Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) won stage 21 of the Giro d'Italia in Rome on Sunday after his team neutralised a late attack from Filippo Ganna (Netcompany-Ineos) without dismantling the sprint train that delivered their man to the line.
The key, he argued, was preparation: Milan had already identified the threat, and Lidl-Trek had Matteo Sobrero positioned up front to follow the move the moment it came.
Ganna attacked with around 18km remaining on the finishing circuits in the Italian capital. Milan, speaking after the stage to Cycling Pro Net , said he had been watching for exactly that. "I was kind of expecting something from Pippo maybe," he said. "I saw him in the beginning of the stage with a single chainring in the front and I say, it's not the usual."
A single front chainring, a setup riders typically choose for specific high-speed efforts, was enough of a visual cue for Milan to flag the danger, even if he did not know Ganna's precise plan. Even without that, it was a pretty good bet that Ganna would go on the attack with little for Netcompany-Ineos to really go for in the stage at the sprint.
How Lidl-Trek kept Milan fresh for the sprint
Lidl-Trek knew attacks would come in the finale and so had Sobrero cover moves. When Ganna went the former Italian TT champion and good friend of Ganna had already been in a move involving two more TT stars in Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Remi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United), but he sat on the move. When it was caught with just under two laps to go, Sobrero had to react again with Ganna launching hard. Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-Quickstep) did the same as a tactical move for Paul Magnier.
"Luckily we were having Sobrero in the front to cover these attacks," Milan said. "So we didn't have to pull in the back to lose other guys to bring back people."
Ganna spoke to reporters after the stage saying that "I wanted to do something but nothing is easy." and revealed that Sobrero spoke to him after the stage.
"He was happy with the final." He said. "He tried to do the best for Lidl-Trek and Jonathan Milan and he was in a situation that was not super comfy for him. But in the end we find a good compromise with a good bottle of wine."
Sprint teams that spend riders chasing down breakaway moves often arrive at the final kilometre short-handed, with gaps in the train their sprinter needs for positioning. Because Sobrero sat on the attack rather than letting it ride, Lidl-Trek could keep their remaining riders around Milan in the bunch, preserving the formation that would guide him through the finale. When the sprint teams eventually brought the move back, Milan still had the bodies around him to contest the sprint at full strength.
"I think the guys did also a super good job in the final," Milan said. "It was a really big team effort today. I'm really happy to pay them back with this victory."
The win capped a Giro that had tested Milan's patience. No stage victory before the finale stage was an odd situation for the big Italian after repeated near-misses throughout the race including a third place behind Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Edoardo Zambanini on stage 18. Magnier dominated the sprint stages and took the points classification, the first time Milan has finished a Grand Tour without winning that jersey.
Milan described the race as "really, really long" but said the team's ability to reset after each disappointment carried them through. "I'm really happy that we always keep fighting, keep believing in it until the last stage," he said. "Our power was also to turn the page and keep focusing on the new goals that we were having."
The closing stage in Rome was the most prestigious sprint opportunity of the Giro, and Lidl-Trek's reading of Ganna's intentions made sure Milan arrived at the line with the tools to take it.
Cover image credit: RCS/Massimo Paolone/Lapresse
