Having returned to competition for the first time since March,
Jonathan Milan's
Tour de Pologne has offered very good signs so far, as the
Bahrain - Victorious came close to his first pro win on stage two.
Part of the leadout for Phil Bauhaus, who finished the opening stage in second place, Milan described the final section of the second day which eventually led to a strong result. “Phil had a flat tire with 18k to go so I waited for him, and we came back to the group together with 7k to go. Then he went full gas to find Heino [Heinrich Haussler]’s wheel so I did the same on the other side of the peloton".
"I arrived behind Heino and tried to wait for Phil in the last kilometre to bring him to the best position possible for the sprint. When I didn’t see him I just did my best, and with 200m to go I decided I would try for the sprint, but my legs were gone, I was super tired, on the limit for the last 20K," the Italian detailed.
However, despite the fatigue, Milan managed to get himself in the mix on what was a chaotic sprint, and sprinted to third place only behind Gerben Thijssen and Pascal Ackermann. Perhaps the best result of his pro road career, it's a great sign for the months to come for the 21-year old, who will likely resume his leadout role for the German Bauhaus on the final day of the race where they'll once again have a chance to thrive.
“For me this result is more than 3rd place, because after 2 months out, for me to come here and be competitive, and to be able to help out my teammates is fantastic. So I’m super happy with this today; it’s more than a 3rd place," he concluded.