"I was a bit scared" - Jonathan Milan overcomes wet and hectic finale to win second Tour de France stage

This Tour de France is being quite tough on the sprinters, so having won a second stage is a big achievement for Jonathan Milan who has gained a buffer on Tadej Pogacar in the fight for the green jersey. The Lidl-Trek rider described a difficult day where he got dropped, avoided crashes, and tackled a wet sprint.

"I think I'm really happy, without words I have to say. I didn't survive alone, I survived always with the help of my teammates, I really have to prioritize this. Without them I wouldn't be here, I would've been dropped in one of the climbs. With the help every single day of my teammates we achieved this result," Milan said in a flash interview.

On paper it was a day that didn't offer many obstacles for the fast men, but the one and only tough ascent of the day (3.7Km at 5.1%) was pushed all-out by INEOS Grenadiers and Movistar's Iván Romeo. The tough pace saw Milan get dropped, and for several kilometers drift off the back of the peloton as the moves continued in the head of the group.

"Today was a really tough stage. We controlled this from the beginning, of course with the help of some other teams, but you know they helped me also when I dropped on the first climb; on the second one they did a really good pace". The team managed to get him back in the peloton, but even the final slight rise with 45 kilometers to go was pushed to the max by Israel - Premier Tech.

However it was all down to a bunch sprint, albeit a very wet one and with a lot of tension. Milan, who admitted he did not know about the crash that took down Biniam Girmay and hampered Tim Merlier, described his feelings during those tense minutes. Then the final was difficult because of the weather. We had to take these roundabouts on the first position. I was a bit scared I have to say also but yeah they helped me, they supported me, and this is really fantastic I have to say. Team victory, I really have to thank them from the bottom of my heart, super super happy for all of us".

He didn't get a perfect leadout in the finale, but on the wheel of compatriot Davide Ballerini, he managed to deliver a top sprint that was unmatched by his rivals. "They delivered me in the best position, I was really focused on it. I was really looking forward for it, it's a big achievement for it".

Milan has managed to build a healthy buffer over Tadej Pogacar into the final days of the race, now of 72 points, but the fight for the points classification is not over and above all he has to survive to brutal Alpine days. "Still not ended, we still have some tough days awaiting us with the climbs, but for the moment we had a lot of fun and yeah I'm really happy with how it's going".

He was asked directly about Pogacar, but kept his focus on his own performances. "We will keep fighting as I said and have been saying every day, for intermediates (sprints, ed.) and then the last day also maybe for the stage, we will see how we will go. Today we had a bit more distance with the points, maybe also I am a bit more relaxed... I will keep fighting and trying to achieve as many points as I can".