Living up to his pre-race favourite billing, Jonathan Milan sprinted to his first Italian national road title on Saturday, coming off the wheel of Alessandro Romele (XDS_Astana) in the final 250 metres in Cuneo.
Milan’s team, Lidl-Trek, took control of the peloton for the majority of the 225-km race, keeping the early breakaway on a tight leash and forcing a regrouping with 64 kilometres to go to deliver a bunch sprint. Burning through his five teammates, Milan was left isolated in the final four kilometres.
The 25-year-old was second wheel as they sped under the kite, until he unleashed his sprint, a speed that no one could match.
Surging in the final metres, Tommaso Dati (Team UKYO) took second, while Romele held on for third.
How it unfolded
On another hot day of racing in Italy, over 130 riders lined up for the elite men’s road race, from Asti to Cuneo. The 225-kilometre course was really divided into two sections, starting with a hilly first half with two climbs, the Monforte d’Alba and Murazzano, the highest point of the race at 696 metres. Then, the route transitioned into a fast finishing circuit, tailor-made for the fast men.
A flurry of attacks led to shuffling and re-shuffling in the early break, with 18 riders managing to escape but only gaining around 1:15 on the Lidl-Trek-controlled peloton before being reeled back in with 64 kilometres to go.
From that point on, the speed was kept high by Lidl-Trek, making sure that no riders could escape, and the majority of the field seemed content to wait for the inevitable. As the kilometres ticked down, Soudal-QuickStep rider, and later on, Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe’s Lorenzo Finn, recently the winner of the Giro Next Gen, added their power in the rotation with the latter putting in some accelerations.
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Inside of six kilometres to go, the peloton was reduced to half its size, as many riders dropped from the heat and speed, leaving Milan with no teammates two kilometres later.
As they sped under the red kite, Filippi Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) launched a short-lived attack, closed down by Milan with Matteo Trentin (Tudor) on his wheel. Then Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost) took the front, with Milan slotting in behind him, still followed by Trentin.
With 250 metres to go, Romele launched his sprint but Milan was able to use his splistream to come around and speed to the line.
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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