After yesterday's frenetic finale to the opening stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, there was even less certainty that stage 2 would finish in a bunch gallop. That possibility surely dropped even lower when Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was dropped with 56km remaining on the second-category Côte du Château de Buron climb.
However, the Italian showed why he's the best sprinter at this year's edition of the pre-Tour warm-up race by making it back into the peloton, powering to the stage win and then into the leader's yellow jersey in one foul swoop.
The two-time Giro d'Italia points classification winner won by over a bike length ahead of Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) in the end, despite the rest of the field's best attempts to shed the fastman from the pack.
"After yesterday, I was really, really tired, and today I knew that it would be this climb here where they will go full gas and try to drop me," he told the media, including Cyclingnews, in his post-stage press conference.
He heaped praise onto his teammates for burying themselves in a bid to return him to prime position in time for the sprint finish.
"In the end, I was just on the limit and my teammates waited for me, brought me back, and they got me until the last 100 metres. I think it was a super team job," he added.
Milan spoke before the stage about how the race miles that the Dauphiné brings ahead of the Tour de France were as much value to him as any stage win he might come across, with today's hectic chase also proving to have a psychological benefit too.
"Today is also a lot in the head, seeing that the team was also really believing in all this really pushed me, really gave me a lot. So this also helped me, and not just that they guided me [back], but also to see all of them supporting me mentally."
Speaking to the press in the yellow jersey, Milan was asked if he hoped to be in a similar position during the first week of July, with the Tour de France's opening stage around Lille almost certain to end in a sprint finish.
"We are here to build up a good shape for the Tour de France, and of course, this [win] brings motivation for me and for my team.
"[The Tour] is a really big goal for us. In the first stage, we already have this possibility for us sprinters, and we are preparing the best that we can. So for sure, we'll give 100% in the end."
Winning a stage at the Dauphiné will naturally mean more eyeballs will land on the Italian sprinter when the Tour's sprint stages roll around - and more occasions where teams attempt to drop him, however, he doesn't seem to feel the pressure.
"I'm not nervous. I'm just enjoying all this."
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage leading up to and during the Tour de France - including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from every stage of the race as it happens and more. Find out more.
