"That's the way it is" - Jonathan Milan's reaction as another Giro d'Italia opportunity slips away

Jonathan Milan knows how rare a full sprint finish has been in this Giro d'Italia and saw another stage slip away on Thursday. The Lidl - Trek fast man targeted stage 12 as an opportunity to get his first win of this year's race on the board, but finished with disappointment.

The Italian rider's search for victory continues, and even though he can hold his head high for outlasting rivals Paul Magnier and Dylan Groenewegen on the day's decisive climb, a punchy section from roughly 70 kilometers to go saw Milan battle to stay in peloton but succumb to the slopes of Bric Berton.

It was the Movistar Team who put on the gas during the difficult section in an attempt to drop Milan and Maglia Ciclamino Magnier and others. Their sprint option Orluis Aular finished sixth however after a Bahrain Victorious heist saw Alec Segaert jump from the bunch in the finale.

Further down the road, Milan and his Lidl - Trek teammates had already packed in the chase. After Milan dropped, he paced himself as he and teammates chased on the descent and flat in an attempt to come back. The work was all in vain as they struggled to reach the front of the race again, sitting up the last 10 to 15 kilometers.

“Today we knew it would be hard with the last climb, we knew we would have to come back on. I can’t say any more than that. We did the maximum today," he told reporters after the race.

With just two stages remaining that can be considered chances for Milan, and an Alpine gauntlet of climbing over the course of the next week, Milan cut an honest figure when admitting that capturing a Giro victory is difficult.

“Of course, I’m disappointed but the chances are what they are on a Grand Tour. The chances so far have gone the way they’ve gone and that’s the way it is.”

Milan highlighted how close his chase came to getting back on to the bunch, praising co=operation from others as they came within one minute behind the peloton.

“We weren’t able to say too much, but we had a good collaboration,” Milan said. “We tried to get back on, we gave regular turns and did what we could. We got to within 50 seconds of the first group, I think, but then the gap went out again and we weren’t able to get back on.”

Sunday's route from Voghera to Milan offers another opportunity for the fast men. 157 kilometers and no climb of note offers the perfect opportunities for teams looking to control for a sprint and take the last pure sprint opportunity until the Giro concludes in Rome the following week.