Not even a surprise attack could derail Jonathan Milan’s dash for victory on a pan-flat 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia. The Lidl-Trek sprinter survived a mid-race split that left him and his teammates chasing furiously in hard crosswinds to make the catch, and then unleashed his trademark head-bobbing dash to show a clean set of wheels to everyone but Cofidis’ Stanislaw Aniołkowski.
Overall leader Tadej Pogačar had no such difficulty, as he and his UAE Team Emirates squad stayed alert and up front, allowing them to tuck in behind Ineos Grenadiers when the British team hit the gas to split the pack.
Serene to spicy
- Stage 13 of the Giro was always likely to end in a sprint finish, and the first part of the stage played out perfectly to form, with an unthreatening three-rider move going clear from the gun and held on a short leash. Through almost 3/4 of the stage, the pace was a stately (for WorldTour riders on a flat course) 42 km/h.
- But as crosswinds picked up, Ineos Grenadiers sensed a chance and hit the front hard with 60 km to go. The Filippo Ganna-driven pack quickly stretched out, and Milan was behind in the second group when the field split in two. Lidl-Trek was clearly caught unawares; it took a solid five kilometers for the team to organize its chase and another 10 to fight their way back and close the gap. But close it they did, and as the pace slackened another move briefly went clear before the sprint teams made the catch.
- But if Milan’s team muffed the mid-race tactics, it nailed the finish. “We knew we had to come first into the last corner, and Simone (Consonni) had to start his leadout from 400 meters to go,” said Milan to Eurosport, crediting his teammates’ work for the setup. He finished it off handily. Even when Movistar’s Fernando Gaviria jumped early, Milan waited and smoothly came around Consonni with an unbeatable acceleration that left everyone but Aniołkowski a bike length behind.
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Brief analysis
- Today was flat. How flat? Just 202 meters (not a typo) of elevation gain. That’s likely the flattest WorldTour race we’ll see all year. To put it in perspective, tomorrow’s also-very-flat stage 14 time trial has 250 meters of elevation gain: in 31.2 km. There are telescope mirrors that have more surface variation than today’s route.
- As a result, any intrigue had to come from the race, and both the weather and Ineos obliged. Today’s stage recalled the adage about submarine warfare: long stretches of tedium interrupted by brief bouts of sheer terror. The pack, facing tomorrow’s time trial and a 222 km mountain stage Sunday with a summit finish, was clearly looking for a day off. But with crosswinds picking up, Ineos took advantage to smash the race to bits.
- It’s worth wondering what would have happened had two things gone different. First: the wind. “It was not enough of a crosswind, more a cross-headwind,” noted Pogačar at the finish to Eurosport. With the route zigzagging back and forth, there wasn’t enough sustained time in the crosswind to force a decisive split. But had Milan not been caught out in group two, the second group may well have stayed behind without Lidl’s furious chase. Whatever the case, Ineos’ actions send a clear signal: they’re going to continue to be opportunistic throughout.
- As for Milan, he’s clearly the class of a sprinter-heavy Giro field. At one point in the chase he appeared to try to bridge alone. While unsuccessful, the effort obviously didn’t leave him short of acceleration for the final and there doesn’t appear to be a single rider in the race who can challenge his finishing speed. He has a 110-point lead to second-placed Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the Maglia Ciclamino competition; that lead itself is 17 points more than third-placed Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) has scored altogether this Giro.
Let’s say that I was a bit (surprised). I went back in the group, I was behind and then these echelons happened in the front. The guys did an amazing job. We really pushed full gas to come back to catch the first group.
Milan on getting caught out by Ineos’ move
Up next
Saturday’s stage 14 is another dead-flat ride, but this time it’s just 31.2 km of individual time trial from Castiglione di Stiviere to Desenzano del Garda on the shores of Lake Garda. Pogačar will look to put more time into his rivals, while Ineos’ Ganna won’t have to worry about any climbs this time as he chases a stage win.
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