"After the Tour I was tired, mentally more than physically": Jonathan Milan looks forward to a rest period

Jonathan Milan's 2025 season ended up being a bit longer than he would have liked it to be, but after the Saitama Criterium, the Lidl-Trek finally also gets his deserved time off the bike. While a great opportunity to go on holidays, the Italian also took some time to sum up the passed season and look a bit further into 2026 and his goals for the season ahead.

"I think it's been an excellent season in every way," Milan begins in an interview for Tuttobiciweb. "We've achieved all the goals we set ourselves last December. We've brought home several victories, but above all, I can say I really enjoyed myself with the guys, and that's the first thing I want to emphasize."

The 25-year-old's season included a total of 66 race days plus some criteriums. Although it doesn't quite come close to those who have raced the most in 2025, it still isn't a small number. "Otherwise, the season has been long. I struggled to get back into shape at the end because, after the Tour, I saw I was tired, mentally more than physically. But at the Deutschland Tour, even though I didn't win, I proved I was there, and overall, I'm not complaining; it's been a good year overall."

Getting a good rest period will now be just as important as pre-season preparation. "Now it's important to unwind so I can start again in the best possible way."

Although Milan raced only sparsely following the Tour de France, he still had to fulfill some sponsorship obligations, which included a trip to Asia. "After these criteriums in Singapore and Saitama, I'll take a complete break and go to the warm Maldives for a week. Then, at the end of November, I'll slowly resume training, and during the December training camps we'll establish the program and goals for 2026."

Milan's calendar for 2026 is still under construction and therefore the star sprinter couldn't reveal any details about his goal for next season. But one thing that is clear is that the Individual Pursuit 2024 world championship would love to return to his old passion track again after a year pause.

"For now, I still don't know what my calendar will look like or which races I'll do. I still have to talk about it and take stock with the team, also considering the possible track commitments where I want to return to training at the start of the season. In this regard, I've been keeping an eye on the various events and I've seen that it won't be easy to combine everything because several races won't be exactly close to home, but we'll see what we can do: we've been there before, and for this reason, I'm not worried," he concludes.