Jonathan Milan finished fourth in the opening time-trial of
Tirreno-Adriatico and second in the sprint finish on stage 3. The Italian packs a strong sprint and can handle himself uphill, hence he will be looking forward to his return with
Milano-Sanremo but now with less pressure on his shoulders.
“We have a strong team for every race option. I like to take things day by day, so I’m looking at finishing Tirreno-Adriatico first and then I’ll think about Milan-San Remo," Milan told Cyclingnews at Tirreno-Adriatico. The American team should features big contender Mads Pedersen as the team leader and protected rider, with the experience of former winner Jasper Stuyven guiding him. Milan will also be present likely as a protected rider and could benefit from a free role.
“I’ll have some super strong teammates for Milan-San Remo like Mads, Jasper and others. We’ll have a great team and Mads is going really well. I just want to play my part," he says. His big rouleur engine could see him be a valuable teammate, but the 23-year old is not to be discarded when it comes to a possible strong result for himsef. Milan will afterwards race the cobbled classics and also the Giro d'Italia, before the Olympic Games where he admits there is a calendar clash.
He could very well be selected to the road race in Paris, in a route that can potentially suit him, despite Italy only being allowed to select three riders. However, he may opt to miss it as he wants to focus on the track events. “The big problem is that the road race is the day before the track, so it’ll be very hard to do both," he admits. "I’d love to do both the road race and the team pursuit and do them well. The problem is the timing. We could end up doing both badly.”