“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
Cycling
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.
Why Milan has become Italy’s great sprint hope
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.”
Jonathan Milan sprints to the win on stage 7 of Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this year
More than just raw power
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.
The sprint rivals trying to stop him
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.
Why the Giro feels different
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.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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