PRESS CONFERENCE Jonathan Milan | Green jersey rivals, yellow jersey dreams and expecting an unexpected rival - "We will see Wout, maybe"

Lidl-Trek are coming into the Tour de France with an incredibly strong team, and taking into consideration the riders present, the main option for a result is Jonathan Milan. The Italian sprinter is aiming for stage wins and potentially a yellow jersey on the first day of the race, and CyclingUpToDate was present at the 24-year old's press conference.

Milan has spoken about his leadout, the first stages of the race and amongst many other topics, the co-leadership at Lidl-Trek together with the likes of Mattias Skjelmose and Thibau Nys.

Answer: Kilometers before, you know, there will be... Because everyone will want to stay in the front to avoid crashes. Hopefully, we will not have them, but... In any case, everyone will want to stay in the front to avoid them. So, there will be this drag race starting, I think, really early. So... Yeah, we have to be careful, I think, all day, all the day, because it will be a stressful day. First stage many sprinter teams would like to watch us. Like sprint. But we have to think also about the kilometers before, because we have many open parts. So, if there will be a bit of wind, it will become a bit critical in some points. With some echelons or... Yeah. So, we will have to... Yeah, we have to be careful with the kilometers before, and then, you know, for the drag race, we will start, I don't know, in which case. But it will be a tough day. It will be a tough and stressful day, for sure.

Answer: For sure, we want to stay in the front like all the other teams. Yeah.

Answer: Yeah, but, you know, we cannot stay in the front for the last 80 kilometers because I really think that they will start really, really early. We have some big parts, then more towns and big [roads] again. So, yeah, it will be difficult to stay always in the front but we will try to, maybe using someone else or... We will see in that point also how it will be. Because with the wind, without... It will be a different kind of situation, of course.

Answer: Of course, I feel a bit, but not that much. I know that we have a really strong team for the lead-out. I think one of the best teams for the lead-out. And this gives me less pressure. Because, you know, when you have a strong team like this to support you, bring you in the front, to guide you in the last kilometers, I think you have just less pressure so we will try to do just what we did until now.

Answer: No. There are many others also. Also Tim [Merlier], Jasper [Philipsen], [Dylan] Gronewegen also. There are also many other strong teams.

Answer: It will be tough, like always, I think.

Answer: Yeah. Yeah, he will go for it. I think also Jasper, maybe he would like to have it again. So, I mean, I'm expecting a super strong Van der Poel after this Dauphine. You know, he was climbing really, really good. And he could be one also there.

Answer: Of course, we will try to do it. Then the green jersey is a sequence of things. Because when you start having some points and some good results in the races, then the green jersey can give you a better result, I think. And of course, you know, it's one of the big goals of this tour.

Answer: We will see how it will go and how I will feel, sure. But I think also me as a sprinter have many opportunities in this tour. So, for the moment I will focus 100% on the flat finishes and then we will see.

Answer: Five, six, I think.

Answer: No, no. I mean, for sure it's a big dream, it's a big goal. But day by day, for tomorrow, for Saturday, I will see.

Answer: I think they are both pretty heavy. So, the comparison is that they are both at the same level for me. Personally as well.

Answer: As a sprinter, I would like to have it like before. If I really have to be 100%. But it's making the race a bit more particular, maybe. A bit different, so it would be a big question mark on that day. I spoke a bit with the guys that last year did the Olympics. With Jasper [Stuyven], actually. And he told me that already last year, he was doing this little climb. It was already pretty tough to take it with 90 riders that was arriving there. So it was already a really stressful moment with just 90 riders. I cannot imagine with double of the peloton. It will be a different day than the last years. We will always look to arrive in a bunch sprint. But for sure there will be many attacks. I should ask on this. And you never know how it will go. But first, Saturday.

Answer: I'm taller (laughs, ed.). That depends from sprint to sprint. Also from the beginning of the year with Merlier in UAE. When we started competing against each other. Maybe sometimes I was starting before and he was able to catch me. The other time I was starting a bit later and I was able to make it. So it's always there. This year I didn't compete as much with him. I think he's also in a good shape.

Answer: I will try to manage it. I'm also working a lot to try to move as less as I can in the final sprint. These 20 seconds of effort. I cannot control it, it's just how it's coming. In this moment. At home, when I'm training for the sprints. When I'm training also in the gym... I'm working a lot because in the end you're spending so much energy doing this whole movement here it's not good for the aero and it's not good for the power. So we're trying to improve also in this step.

Answer I lost some fat... For the climbs I don't need it. I lost some kilos through the training camp. In altitude, especially in Dauphiné. But it's also not an increasing number. Just a couple of kilos, but it's normal. In the end we work a lot also to try to get a bit better also in the climbs.

Answer: For me it would be... We know what is on the table for that stage but I think I will go there with the mentality. It's just a normal sprint. Because then it's just the contest that is changing.

Answer: I think I will add something more. Because we have a special relation. All three, four together. And this is really important to move in the end in the last kilometers of a sprint. For a race all together and all really stick together and that we know what the other and we can trust what the other in the front is doing. So all four (also Edward Theuns and Jasper Stuyven, ed.) we have a really nice relation in the end. But you know, with Simo it's special because it's years that we know each other. Since already years before in Tokyo. So from the track here we are coming from years and years of team pursuit and experience together so yeah, always now we are always in the room together. So it's a really special relation.

Answer: In English.

Answer: You are racing at 60 per hour and you are speaking two languages. With Simo we speak Italian and the other two in English. If I have to say something on the radio, of course in English. But with Simo, if I have to say something to him, it's in Italian.

Answer: You mentioned Jasper and Merlier. Any other names that come to your mind? I would say also Groenewegen... I don't know if I'm missing someone, I'm sorry. But I think also Tim and Jasper, they will be the main competitors. Oh, okay, of course also Girmay. Then we will see Wout, maybe, how it will be. But yeah, these I think will be the main ones.

Answer: For me it was really, we were just in three at the start from my team. It was a bit difficult to control it, I have to say. Astana controlled it for quite long. And then they started to attack when we stopped. It was a bit chaotic. These guys here from Swatt Club, they played really good in the end. They played their cards. So in the end we won the strongest one. For me personally, it was not super easy, this finish. I mean, I know it. I would like to have a different result, of course because also it was in my region, next to my house. So it was a special Italian championship for me, but I really gave my best. I tried my best until the end. And this is the result. In the end I'm happy because of my condition. I cannot say that I'm happy about the result, of course. I'm happy also about how I raced. It was also not easy in the final to come back always on the first group. So yeah, it went how it went. Chapeau to [Filippo] Conca, I would say.