Today is the day of revenge, of truth, of redemption. Call it what you like, the fact remains that The Milan sprint will have the spotlight on just one rider: Jonathan MilanFourth in Burgas and second in Sofia, the Lidl-Trek sprinter has so far been unable to find the right timing with the train to impose his conditions. However, upon arriving in Naples, it became clear too late that it would have been worthwhile to focus on others rather than the sprinters.
Right on the short straight of Piazza del Plebiscito, behind the Ballerini winner, Stuyven's second place, however, highlighted the delicate situation of the train Lidl TrekThe Belgian himself, who had worked for Magnier in the two previous sprints, left the team to have his own space in the classics. If to his absence we add that of Edward Theuns, it is clear that the 2025 Tour train, which allowed Milan to win two stages and conquer the green jersey, has crumbled. Resist agree, but due to his characteristics the Bergamo player needs someone who can keep the speed much higher.
Commenting on the first sprints, Petacchi observed who, like him in the golden years, Milan is not a sprinter, but rather one of the most powerful fast athletes in the groupTo win, he therefore needs to start the sprint at very high speed and finish with his usual burst of power. What can we expect from his train today? We asked Luca Guercilena, general manager of Lidl-Trek, that at the end of 2023 he took Jonathan from Bahrain Victorious.
Is the feeling of a less equipped train than usual just ours?
Let's say that Theuns' absence due to family matters has its weightHis wife had a somewhat complicated pregnancy and gave birth on the Sunday of the final stage in Bulgaria. Having an athlete like him who can stretch the group is definitely better for both Jonathan and Simone. If he had been there with Walscheid, we would have had the most complete train.. So obviously it's a little more complex.
How are the replacements doing?
Teutenberg is at his first experience in a Grand Tour and obviously the mechanisms are not the same as those Milan had with the others, so it's inevitable that there will be some problems. That said, it's obvious that on complicated arrivals it is not a given that Consonni alone can take Milan out.
Forgive the barroom question: was everything possible done to keep Stuyven, or was his desire to leave not for sale?
His reasoning started from the fact that he still has some leadership desires: not so much for the sprints as for the classicsIt seems clear to me that he made a thoughtful and correct choice based on personal expectations rather than on sprinting.
So it was more a problem of coexistence with Pedersen than with Milan?
It wasn't a question of incompatibility, because the two get along well. But it's clear that with Mads they were going to overlap on the same objectives. The question was essentially this.
The feeling is that Jonathan sometimes prefers to let go of the train in the final stages and choose other wheels from which to launch the sprint.
In the first sprint in Bulgaria, actually, things were going quite well with a nice sprint. Then The Soudal rider rightly made a gap on Walscheid by slowing down and it is clear that Johnny launched manages to express all his power in a certain way, Johnny not thrown had a bounce backIn fact, the sprint was interrupted, and in that case it was more complicated for him to get out. In the third stage, however, he started quite long. When the sprint becomes chaotic, if he doesn't have the man to take him out, he tends to immediately jump on the wheels of others and perhaps this limits the expression of his power.
His insecurity or the team's lack?
It's obviously the team's responsibility to put him in the right position. We haven't succeeded so far, we can't hide behind a fingerThe group we have here at the Giro is capable of putting together a train to launch it in the right way, so we have to be able to do that.
Was Milan involved in selecting the men for the Giro or did the coaches make the call-ups?
No, he was involved. We didn't actually have a lot of alternatives.. Ghebreigzabhier he's his man to shoot. Then we have sobrero, which all in all can help to stretch the group a bit. Then, taking away Theuns, the names to lead the sprints are thoseWe could have potentially risked Soderqvist, but he's a first-year player and we would have run the risk of losing him after the first five days. These considerations also need to be made.
Do you think you're finding it more difficult to steer it in the last 400 meters or in the preceding kilometers?
I think the mechanisms of the finale, especially with Simone (Consonni, ed.), are there. If you leave Milan at 200 meters and there is a clear road ahead, the sprint is almost certain. Instead, the previous part is the most complicated, especially if you have to make a train that leaves him at very high speed so he can make the difference. In Petacchi's time, everything was different; I don't know if you can make a comparison.
Why?
Those were different times too, Alessandro had the whole team to himself: 9 of them started and 8 of them gave him the sprint., so you built everything around one goal. We will probably have to do the same in the future. define which Tours you want to aim to win the points jersey and the sprints and those where the focus will be slightly more on the uphill climb. During this transition period, choices have been made that safeguard all possible objectives.
Since you're a coach by birth, what do you say to those who criticize Milan's sprints with such a high pedaling frequency?
His characteristics are those; as a coach, you can only improve them. Changing them risks going the other way. We can't forget that it comes from the track, where they have higher pedaling cadences In training and in competition. That's his style of sprinting. We've already worked a lot on his upper body, but if those are his characteristics from a neuromuscular and coordination standpoint, changing them is really difficult and counterproductive. Then again, in terms of pure performance, when you do 2.000 watts it doesn't matter whether you do them at 110 or 120 pedal strokes.
It has been said that this frequency penalised him when he hit the pothole that slowed him down…
I see that more referred to how he grips the handlebarsIt's a feature we've already improved a lot, but the attitude of pulling a lot with your arms remains, while in certain situations you have to make the bike slide more fluidly. Because if you end up in the pothole, it's true that you skid with the rear wheel, but it happens because you went into it hard with the front wheel.
Can we do something about this?
We also talked about Roubaix. We need to work on it. gain a little lightness in the management of the handlebars, because that's where he often has problems, both in sprints and perhaps on the cobbles. So he runs the risk of crashing or puncturing, because he hits the hole or the cobbles violently. That's a job that can be done, but the fact remains that if he is capable of doing 2.000 watts, he has the power and the legs.
On paper, Milan remains today, and Rome on the final day. Does the lack of results bring on nerves?
No, not nervousness, in the sense that we would be stupid if we became nervous. We are used to having the pressure of having to win, this is a fact., so the pressure should only motivate the riders to be more focused and bring home the result. Giving in to nerves is detrimental, so my job and that of the directors is the exact opposite. Try to keep the riders focused and calm to take advantage of all their qualitiesIf we were to stray into nervous tension, we would already have lost from the start.
Unibet has hired Kittel to provide a technical reference for Groenewegen: could you also consider involving a former sprinter for AC Milan?
Kittel was a sprinter and an important one too, keep in mind that Eisel's inclusion was also dictated by the fact that for years he was a key man in important trains, so the idea was already there. But all avenues are certainly open, so if there's the possibility of having a specialized consultant for the sprints, that would certainly be acceptable.
