"He proved to be the strongest... can do very well even in the big classics" - Lidl-Trek boss blown away by Jonathan Milan's first season

The transfer of Jonathan Milan from Bahrain - Victorious to Lidl-Trek ahead of the 2024 season was one of the big moves in the sprint world last year. It's fair to say, the Italian more than proved his worth as a successful piece of business as well.

After a breakthrough 2023, Italian sprint star Jonathan Milan earned himself a big money move to Lidl-Trek for the 2024 campaign. Not missing a beat, Milan picked up right where he left off as well, successfully retaining his Maglia Ciclamino jersey at the Giro d’Italia, winning three stages en route.  More Points Classification victories also came in 2024 at races such as Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Deutschland Tour, plus notable one-day results at Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and the BEMER Cyclassics.

As such, Lidl-Trek have been incredibly impressed. "When we did an analysis to understand who was one of the sprinters who could grow exponentially, the eye certainly went to him (Milan)," explains Lidl-Trek boss Luca Guercilena in conversation with Bici Pro. "We had seen his path, already before inside the Cycling Team Friuli , where Bressan always does an excellent job with his group. At the same time when he went to Bahrain he demonstrated excellent skills."

More than just an out-and-out sprinter, Milan also has capabilities in the one day classics. "About the classics in general, in my opinion Jonathan is an athlete who can do very well even in the big classics," notes Guercilena. "As for sprints, it's not a given that to prove you're the strongest sprinter in the world you have to go to the Tour. In the end, in my opinion, the level of sprinters at the Giro d'Italia was very high and he proved to be one of the strongest , if not the best overall. But I don't see the pressure within the two years, because I think Jonathan is young and has margins even after Los Angeles. You evaluate an athlete on his career. So there are short-term goals, which can certainly be identified with the single race. But overall, an athlete is remembered for what he has won over the course of his career. So as a team we evaluate that more than a very short-term discussion."

As far as Milan' improvement goes though, the Lidl-Trek boss has full trust in the team around the Italian. "Yes, absolutely: blind trust. I've been out of certain dynamics for a while now. I'm not saying I wouldn't be able to train this generation of riders, but the work systems, the indexes and the analysis software have changed completely. I would need a brain rejuvenation from the point of view of preparation. Then, as always, for those like me who have been a coach, the pleasure of training a great champion would certainly be there. But you also have to be aware of your own limits," he concludes. "I do not deny that, as always, and not only in the case of Johnny, when I see something that I think can be improved in the preparation, I talk about it with the performance group and maybe I try to show them what could be a next phase of the training planning. However, I have full confidence in his and the other coaches, also because they have shown themselves to be very capable in their work."