“He’s the Roman God of cycling” - Robbie McEwen puts Jonathan Milan in line with Italy’s Giro d’Italia sprint legends Cipollini and Petacchi

Long before the 2026 Giro d’Italia has even reached the mountains, Jonathan Milan is already emerging as one of the defining stories of the race.

Not simply because of his speed. Not only because he starts as favourite for the ciclamino jersey. But because, in the eyes of TNT Sports analyst Robbie McEwen, the Lidl-Trek sprinter has become something Italian cycling has been searching for again for years: a larger-than-life home sprint superstar capable of carrying the atmosphere of the Giro itself.

“He’s the Roman God of cycling,” McEwen said ahead of the Grande Partenza in Bulgaria.

The comparison was not made lightly either. McEwen directly linked Milan to the lineage of iconic Italian sprinters who helped define previous generations of the Giro d’Italia. “He makes people think of the great Italian sprinters of the last couple of decades, Mario Cipollini and Alessandro Petacchi,” the Australian explained.

Milan arrives at the Giro after another strong early season campaign which reinforced his status as arguably the fastest pure sprinter currently in the sport. The 25-year-old already owns multiple Giro stage victories and two ciclamino jerseys, but this year’s opening stages in Bulgaria have created the possibility of something even bigger: finally pulling on the Maglia Rosa.

That prospect has only intensified the excitement surrounding the Italian inside his home Grand Tour. “I think the Italian fans, they love that,” McEwen explained. “They love the big personality, big ego, big presence.”

The former green jersey winner believes Milan’s physical presence and explosive sprinting style naturally fit the image Italian fans traditionally embrace at the Giro. “He’s a really big guy, and he has people in every way look up to him,” McEwen said. “I think the Italian fans just love that.”

According to McEwen, Milan’s dominance starts with a physical engine few riders in modern cycling can rival. “He’s just got enormous power, a massive engine,” the Australian explained. “When he goes and stomps on it, he’s just got a power output that almost nobody in road cycling can match.”

That combination of raw speed and physicality has helped Milan become the clear benchmark for many of the Giro’s likely sprint stages, particularly with Lidl-Trek arriving in Bulgaria built heavily around controlling flat finishes and targeting the points classification.

The Italian also benefits from one of the strongest sprint structures in the race, with riders such as Simone Consonni expected to play major roles in his lead-out train throughout the opening week.

Despite Milan’s favourite status, the sprint field at this Giro remains one of the deepest seen in recent years. Kaden Groves arrives after another strong Grand Tour build-up and remains particularly dangerous on harder sprint stages and reduced finishes, while Dylan Groenewegen enters the race in excellent form as the centrepiece of Unibet Rose Rockets’ first ever Grand Tour campaign.

McEwen himself highlighted Groenewegen as one of the riders capable of becoming a major story during the Giro. “This is their time to shine in the big time,” he said of Unibet Rose Rockets. “They’ve done really well to get an invitation, now they want to go there and get a result they can pin their whole season on.”

Alongside Groenewegen and Groves, riders such as Paul Magnier, Arnaud De Lie and Tobias Lund Andresen also add further depth to the sprint competition.

For McEwen, though, the appeal of the Giro extends beyond individual riders or sprint battles. The Australian believes the race itself carries a completely different personality compared to the Tour de France. “There’s more Italian chaos, there’s more Italian cinema,” he said. “It’s less controlled. It’s less formulaic.”

That unpredictability, combined with Italy’s emotional connection to the race, is exactly why Milan’s presence has become such a major talking point before the Giro has even begun.

The country has always embraced charismatic sprinters capable of dominating flat stages while carrying the atmosphere of the race itself. McEwen clearly believes Milan now sits firmly within that tradition.

And if the Lidl-Trek rider does manage to take the Maglia Rosa during the opening week in Bulgaria, the noise surrounding Italy’s newest sprint phenomenon may only become even louder.