"I don’t know what to say" - Jonathan Milan puts in 1870-watt sprint but leaves Bulgaria without a Giro victory

Jonathan Milan has not had the best time at the start of the 2026 Giro d'Italia. Whilst he was close on both occasions, the Lidl-Trek rider could not snatch a win; and had to watch Paul Magnier win on two occasions despite putting out race-winning numbers.

On stage 1, Decathlon and Quick-Step led out their sprinters, with Milan in the wheel. Max Walscheid launched a late attack, but Milan simply did not have the legs in the finale. The team wanted revenge on the third day, finishing in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. But the outcome at the end was a second place.

“I think we improved compared to the last couple of days; we rode well as a team in the finale, and we held our positions in the final kilometers. We did what we wanted to do, even if the result wasn’t the one that we had wanted," Milan shared with RAI after stage 3.

This time around Milan hit the front, but his sprint looked to come too early, providing Magnier with a few seconds of slipstreaming which were then crucial in a photo-finish dash to the line.

“Maybe I went a bit too early before the corner. I thought the crown of the last corner was a little bit closer to the finish, and I thought I needed to hit the right speed there to take the cobbled section from the front and then not get overtaken," he explained. "Maybe I should have waited a bit longer, and instead I went a bit early.”

According to Velon, Milan put out a maximum of 1870 watts for his final sprint, and an average of 1590. Whilst he is a heavier rider than both Magnier and Dylan Groenewegen, the differential is greater. The Italian effectively put out his best numbers, only he did not time his sprint well.

“I don’t know what to say, but from a psychological point of view, it’s not that I’m demoralized by these results, quite the opposite,” Milan confirms. But sprinting is a combination of power, timing and positioning. So far it has been Magnier who combined these to perfection.

“Tomorrow (Monday, ed.) is a travel day and then bit by bit I’ll look to recovery, and I’ll try to win and enjoy myself. I’m starting to feel a bit better day by day. Maybe in the first two days I was still trying to open the gas a bit. But to be clear, that’s not an excuse, it’s just how I felt.”

Former pro Bobbie Traksel argues that Milan is suffering from the lack of his traditional leadout. Simone Consonni, Max Walcheid and Tim Torn Teutenberg have been tasked with supporting the maglia ciclamino contender in the flat finishes; but this has not yet brought the desires outcome.

The leadouts have not been as smooth as in the past, which is argued to be a consequence of two absentees. "The loss of Edward Theuns, who is at home with a young child, and the departed Jasper Stuyven (now part of Magnier's leadout at Soudal - Quick-Step, ed.) is enormous for that team," he argued on the Kop over Kop podcast.

Overall, it is a difficult phase for the German team, who have several of its leaders sidelined including Juan Ayuso and Thibau Nys; whilst injuries and illnesses have taken a toll on Milan, Mads Pedersen and Derek Gee throughout the spring as well.

"Things are simply not going well at that team right now. In budget terms, they're the second or third team in the peloton, and their last stage win was at Tirreno-Adriatico. But they really do need to look at what has gone wrong. A rider like Vacek who isn't performing, and Thibau Nys who is out again. It does need to be looked into".