Against the backdrop of Abu Dhabi’s glittering skyline, in the heavy heat of the afternoon, Jonathan Milan did what he does best.
After 149-kilometres staying safe and conserving energy, helped by his teammates, the Italian green giant rode a perfect sprint in the final stage of the UAE Tour, opening up early and carrying his speed all the way to the line in trademark Jonny style.
Lidl-Trek worked hard on the front throughout the stage to control the gap to the breakaway who put up a valiant fight but were ultimately caught in the closing three-kilometres of the stage. It was then time for Simone Consonni and Max Walscheid to deliver Milan off in the right place to give him a clear shot at the line, and we all know what happened next. With Sunday’s stage victory – his third at the UAE Tour this week – Milan also took home the green points jersey of the UAE Tour, capping off another great week to start the season. Canadian climber Derek Gee-West also made it through the final stage safely to secure his seventh place finish on the general classification.
In the winner’s words…
It’s really nice to end the UAE Tour with this victory. Last year I was close to this. I really anticipated a huge sprint and I wanted to do more or less the same so I took a bit of last year’s experience in the sprint. It was a super fast stage and also hard with the wind and a strong break, so we had to control it and we controlled it really well thanks to the huge effort my teammates did for the whole race. The positioning and pulling was amazing, we showed we are really in a good shape. I am happy for the victories but also how we moved as a team in these races.
I think I am really happy for this achievement [the 30th victory of his career] and I hope to keep pushing and trying to be the best in the next races in the season and we will see
