Jonathan Milan takes Giro win and maglia ciclamino: "I said from the start that I wanted to win here"

Lidl-Trek could celebrate after stage 4; after taking a strong win with Jonathan Milan only 24 hours after a close defeat. The Italian sprinter looked the strongest on a finale that was highly disputed.

Firstly because the sprinter teams were at risk of fighting for second, as track teammate Filippo Ganna launched a very strong attack up the final climb and then sustained his gap all the way into the final meters of the stage. “We saw him going full throttle on the Capo Mele. But with 900 meters to go we were able to take it back. In a way he also helped us," Milan said in a post-race interview. "Then it was up to Simone [Consonni] and he did a fantastic lead-out.”

This time around Milan had a good positioning into the finish, without spending too much time in the wind, and the results were in display. A stage win, the second of his career at the Corsa Rosa, and also the lead of the points classification after today. He beat Kaden Groves and Phil Bauhaus to the line.

“I feel a lot of emotions. I said from the start that I wanted to win here, and everyone in the team did their job perfectly," he continued. "It's a great feeling to be back on the highest stage here. The teammates believed in me today. And extra nice: my parents were also present.”