Jonathan Milan was too strong for his sprint rivals on stage 2 at Tirreno-Adiatico but was still too modest to say he is the best sprinter in the world.
The 24-year-old Italian has already won five races, including the opening team time at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, but is a real gentleman sprinter; hugely powerful when he stomps on the pedals but softly spoken and naturally happy after the sprinting adrenaline eases.
Milan won two sprints at the UAE Tour, including beating Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) on stage 4. He arguably has the best lead out train in the WorldTour and has been designated as Lidl-Trek's Tour de France sprinter ahead of Mads Pedersen, with the goal of winning the opening stage in Lille.
"I don't consider myself the best sprinter in the world," Milan said when asked by Cyclingnews after his victory.
"There are a lot of good sprinters in the peloton at the moment. Merlier is the first name I think of but there's also Dylan Groenwegen, Olav Kooij, Jasper Philipsen and lots of others."
Milan will surely clash with Merlier in Lille on the opening stage of the Tour de France. It is expected to be the most prestigious sprint of the season, with the first yellow jersey an extra reward.
Yet Milan does not need to fuel a rivalry with Merlier or anyone else to be motivated. There is no need for dissing or a boxing style face-off.
"I'm always motivated," Milan said with his well-educated tone and boyish smile.
"I did see Tim's sprints at Paris-Nice and congrats to him, he's strong."
Milan was a frustrated ninth in the Follonica sprint in 2024 and was keen to make amends after struggling in the recent Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne sprint that also had a late corner.
He is perhaps not the best at fighting for position and the wheels in sprints, but his teammates rode perfectly in the last kilometre and then he and Consonni dived into the last corner before opening up his huge power sprint.
"I was scared we were going too fast into the corner but it all worked out and went as we expected," Milan explained.
"All the team worked hard and the leadout went perfectly. It was fundamental for me to take the last corner near the front. That then meant I could produce my best possible sprint.
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose or the sprint doesn't work out. The important thing is to learn and improve each time. We wanted a win after last year and we're super happy. This is a team win and I dedicate it to my teammates. They're like my second family and so this win is for them."
Milan's lead out train includes Ed Theuns, Jasper Stuyven and Consonni, who was also part of the Italian team pursuit squad along with Filippo Ganna and Francesco Lamon.
Like Ganna, Milan has put aside his track ambitions until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, to fully focus on road racing and especially on sprinting. Track sessions have been replaced by more hours in the saddle and on climbs.
"I've worked hard on improving my climbing ability, to go over the medium length climbs without killing myself, so that I can then sprint. It's important to always improve," he revealed.
"I had a good winter and I think I've improved in every way. I'm more confident and relaxed and physically stronger too. The whole team has improved and we're showing with our results."
The hard work could mean Milan survives the gradual climb to Colfiorito on Wednesday's stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico and so contest the expected reduced sprint finish against the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep), Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) and Marc Hirschi (Tudor).
It could also be a test for the rapidly approaching Milan-San Remo, where Milan will probably be Lidl-Trek's sprint option alongside Mads Pedersen.
"We've got a strong team and we'll be motivated to get a result, also because we've got Mads," Milan said, with his intrinsic modest but underlying ambitions.
"Milan-San Remo is about saving your energy and using your experience. The team will decide the final line-up and the tactics for Milan-San Remo but I always come out of Tirreno-Adriatico feeling good, so I'm optimistic."
