"Always me or Mads" - Jonathan Milan admits shared Tour de France ambitions with Pedersen was never realistic

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."