Jonathan Milan will make his first career Tour de France start in less than a month, and if Monday's racing action is any indication, the Italian sprinter – and his Lidl-Trek team – are rounding into form just in time.
Despite having been dropped with a little over 50 km to go on a hilly second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Milan rejoined the peloton and then stormed to a convincing victory an hour later, crossing the line well ahead of Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
"I think to be alone, it would be tough to come back, but when you have a team supporting you and also believing in, it's easier," Milan said afterwards.
It was indeed a team effort that propelled Milan to the win, his first ever in the Dauphiné, as Lidl-Trek rallied around its sprint leader to get him back in touch with the bunch after he was dropped on the Cat. 2 Cǒte du Château de Buron. The team then did a bit of work to chase late attacker Romain Bardet (Picnic-PostNL) before regrouping ahead of the final push, allowing other teams to lead the way until hitting the front at just the right time to take complete control.
Jasper Stuyven took a massive pull inside the last kilometer, fending off a surge from Bahrain Victorious and leading his teammates into the final corner with about 400 meters to go.
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