Jonathan Milan, very clear signal ahead of Tour de France
First the difficulties on the uphill section, then the recovery, and finally the resounding success in the sprint: it was a day to remember, on Monday, for Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who won the success in the second stage of the Tour of Dauphiné 2025, one of the key appointments for the preparation ahead of the Tour de France.
The sprinter from Friuli came out on top in the stage that took the peloton from Prémilhat to Issoire, at the end of a 204.6-kilometer route with several bumps in the heart of the stage, before a long flat section to the finish. Milan beat Britain’s Alfred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at the finish line: with the 10″ of bonus he also jumped to the top of the general classification, with the same time as Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) but a better average at the placings level.
“It’s been a crazy stage – Milan himself said, smiling in the press conference -. We believed in the victory and we managed to hit the target. I really have to thank my team, they all supported me: it was a really important aspect to recover and get to the finish line with a chance to play for the victory”.
That launched in Issoire is a very clear message from Jonathan Milan ahead of the Tour de France, which kicks off from Lille on July 5, with a stage that has all the characteristics to end in a sprint: “All of us sprinters know that the first stage is built for a sprint finish, winning it would mean wearing the yellow jersey. That’s the goal, then we will also think about the points classification”.
