"You can always expect everything" however Lidl-Trek thrive in controlled chaos to deliver Jonathan Milan to AlUla Tour win

Lidl-Trek were the team to beat at the AlUla Tour today, however when strong crosswinds blew the peloton apart and left only three out of their riders in the 18-rider group up front, Jonathan Milan's victory was put into jeopardy. However, the German team held it together and the Italian managed to take the win that was expected to him.

“It was tougher than I expected. I was expecting some echelons, but then I was thinking that maybe it would come back together, and I was also thinking, in the end, that the big group would catch us" Milan said in a post-race interview. "But yeah, we had to push a lot to stay in front.”

With around 40 kilometers to go, so just under one hour of racing, the peloton split, with a large group consisting of fast men, half of them being pure sprinters, moved away from the main peloton. Tension was high and that allowed the race to stabilize into a more fixed position, as the front group would then work to try and keep the peloton away.

Lidl-Trek had two men with Milan, although the team was in just as good of a position as their best-featured rivals. “My teammates, they were really impressive, Kristian [Egholm] and Jakob [Soderqvist] were super strong, and they were out there in the front. I also have to say thanks to all the others who supported me for the whole stage.”

In the final sprint then, Milan managed to benefit from the work of Cofidis which took the group into a sprint following the late attack of Timo de Jong, and outpower his rivals. He is now the first leader of the race.

“It was a bit tricky, you know, when there aren’t many in the front, you can always expect everything, maybe a little group of three or four, they attack, and then you’re not able to catch them anymore. It was really good and they delivered me into the perfect position.”

Tomorrow, Milan will once again be the main favourite, as the peloton tackles another flat day. “We have some nice stages already tomorrow, and I’m just super happy and looking forward to it.”