"Always me or Mads" - Jonathan Milan admits shared Tour de France ambitions with Pedersen was never realistic
Cycling
At the 2025 Tour de France, Lidl-Trek are fully backing Jonathan Milan as their sprinter, leaving out the more experienced Mads Pedersen from their lineup. Despite the potential pressures of having team leadership at the most watched race on the planet, the 24-year-old Italian is incredibly excited for his Tour debut.
With this year's Tour de France offering a more sprint-heavy route than the past few editions, Milan can also dream of a potential spell in the Maillot Jaune, maybe even as early as stage 1 of the first Tour de France of his career. "Already, from the beginning, we will have a nice opportunity. We will have to be more than ready like it's a World Championships," Milan says in quotes collected by Cycling News, from Lidl-Trek's January training camp. "For us, that will be the goal on day one, starting with the first stage, that is something that we really want to achieve."
The first appearance of Milan at the Tour de France is a very highly anticipated one for many cycling fans. The Italian has already showcased his Grand Tour capabilities at the Giro d'Italia over the last two years, winning four stages and securing back-to-back Maglia Ciclamino victories. Success at the Tour de France though, would undoubtedly be another step up for the Lidl-Trek star though. "It's an important race, of course, and a new challenge. I really can't wait for the moment," he says. "Obviously, I have really high ambitions, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself. So I'm taking it day by day and trying to focus on arriving there in the best shape possible."
As mentioned though, rather than as part of a two-pronged Lidl-Trek attack with Mads Pedersen, Milan has been granted sole sprint leadership of the team at the upcoming Tour de France. According to the Italian himself, despite outside speculation, it was "always me or Mads" and never a realistic prospect to have both present.
Despite the big success he's already had in his career though, Milan admits there is still room for improvement. "I'm trying to improve a lot with my position, to move with the upper body as little as possible," explains the 24-year-old. "I've done a lot of core and tried to work on stability to be able to push as much as you can out of the legs. It will be better for my sprint and more aero to get a bit lower. I mean, it's difficult for me, I don't know where to put my body sometimes, but I'll try to stay a bit lower and move as little as possible, to do as good a push as I can in that moment."
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- That is an interesting take on things. Are you an athiest then?roadman5412112-02-2025
- Pogacar didn't try his best to drop him in stage 2 and in stage 9 Jonas was clearly much inferior so he didn't match him. Maybe they meant sprint stagesvappaxbipmv12-02-2025
- One day he beat Pogacar (stage 11), and other days when he managed to stay with Pogacar (like stage 2 and stage 9). That's an accurate statement, no?maaiikeen12-02-2025
- Well, that event certainly sounds serious. Thank you for sharing it. But this article seemed to state that Mr. Freire was errant in not being available by cell phone during his private time away from home, leaving no room for actual privacy. And that is not news.itsent11-02-2025
- "It's not weak to put your hand up and ask for help." Good point, but who do you ask? I've certainly no experience similar to Mr. Bobridge here, but when life drops you so to speak, one of the great shortcomings of civilized society comes to bear in that there is no one to ask for help.itsent11-02-2025
- "It's not weak to put your hand up and ask for help." Good point, but who do you ask? I've certainly no experience similar to Mr. Bobridge here, but when life drops you so to speak, one of the great shortcomings of civilized society comes to bear in that there is no one to ask for help.itsent11-02-2025
- Kuss has had good results but overall Almeida is a better rider. 3rd at the giro, 4th at the TDF, and has a lot of podiums on 1 week prestigious races. Let's not forget that without the breakaway and the gift by Roglic and Jonas sepp could have been a top 10 in that vuelta a España.alsene11-02-2025
- Let's just say that Demi already has plenty of experience racing against SD Worx. Looking forward to seeing her race with a team that fully supports her. Also think it's great that the women's teams have evened out a bit this year with some big-name riders moving aroundmobk11-02-2025
- Jonas needs his muscle mass back, which I'm sure he is close to having.awp11-02-2025
- "On a few DAYS the Dane did manage to match or even beat Pogacar..." Stage 11, which are the other days?vappaxbipmv11-02-2025