Second victory in this Giro for Jonathan Milan, a diamond in the rough

In cycling, things sometimes develop the opposite of what logic dictates, or at least in modern cycling. The teams whose money is at stake in the general classification, dedicate all their efforts to safeguarding their leader, read Pogacar, read Thomas, or whoever is considered to have options. From the moment they get out of a hotel bed, more or less recovered from the beating of the previous day, until they go to bed in another, probably many kilometers away, exhausted by the effort of the day. The mission is to protect the head of the line, from breakfast to dinner, to make their life as simple as possible.

And in the race, of course. They must be there to know what you need, attend to what you demand, go down to the team car to deliver your warm clothes or pick them up. And put your elbows in, if necessary, to avoid intrusions into the vital space that the team is looking for in a perimeter as changeable as that of a platoon.

So, logically, when the final kilometers of a stage arrive like the one that took place ending in Francavilla al Mare, on the shores of an Adriatic in which little lambs with white curls were formed by the wind that blew towards land, They would have to wait at the back of the pack and wait for the fury to break out among the finishers looking for their place. But whatever, the leaders discarded that option a long time ago, and the strategy is the opposite. When the pace accelerates, due to the anxiety of the near arrival, important teams react. In this case, the UAE on one side and Ineos on the other, take the lead, forming a convoy that protects their leaders, while traveling at breakneck speed. In order not to take risks, they take risks between the lurches, the touches of the handlebars or the never-dismissable possibility of a fall.

They only move away when the finish line banner can be seen from close up, they have avoided the falls and the finishers unleash their fury. It is Merlier who unleashes the hostilities, just when those in front hear the shouts, the braking and the shouting a few meters behind. catacrac of a pileup after Madis Mihkels lost control of her bicycle, colliding with Fabio Jakobsen and Tobias Lund.

An accident that ended with scares, some bad faces and various bruises, what cyclists call bodywork. But Merlier was still determined to win, in any way, lurching at times, and throwing Molano off balance. And behind him, following his wheel, walked Jonathan Milan, dressed in the jersey cyclamen, an impressive image, who admires Marco Pantani, although he is nothing like him, and who still feels like a diamond in the rough. “I think Merlier’s was a perfect wheel. He started his sprint very strong but then I tried to make my own and everything turned out well.”

The Lidl cyclist, with his powerful pedal stroke, challenged the rest of the sprinters to score his second stage victory. And in the end, as in a motivational talk, he admits that the important thing is not the goal, but the path: “You know it’s not just the sprint 20 seconds what makes me happy or the victory in the end. “I think it’s all the work we did, what the kids did, what the team did for me.”

Merlier did not do as well as Milan, because the judges heeded the complaint of Molano, who entered the finish line making a fuss, and was relegated to 89th place, the last of those who arrived with the same time as the winner of the race. stage.

Except for the fallen, everyone arrived safely on the eleventh day, in which the platoon heads north along the seashore, although some will not make it any further. Cian Uijtdebroeks, fifth overall, was forced to abandon the race. He wasn’t feeling well the last few days and after yesterday’s stage he fell ill and woke up with a fever, so the best youngster jersey changes back to him. It is now worn by Antonio Tiberi, another promise of Italian cycling.

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