Jonathan Milan narrowly beat teammate Mads Pedersen in the opening 2.9-kilometer-long prologue to take victory on the first day of Lidl Deutschland Tour.
The Lidl-Trek duo topped the leaderboard with just 0.71 seconds separating them on the line after powerful all-in performances over the short leg opener in Germany.
Close Up ➡️ Jonathan Milan (@LidlTrek ) – Hut ab!
Close Up ➡️ Jonathan Milan (@LidlTrek ) – Hats off!#deinetour #deinetourlohntsich pic.twitter.com/lEuOpcihBA— Lidl Deutschland Tour (@DeineTour) August 21, 2024
Jonathan Milan will now wear the race’s blue leader’s jersey on Stage 1 after securing all the distinctive jerseys at the end of the day.
The only man on the podium today!
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Jonathan Milan of Italy and Team Lidl - Trek celebrates at podium as stage winner during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Jonathan Milan of Italy and Team Lidl - Trek celebrates at podium as stage winner during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Jonathan Milan of Italy and Team Lidl - Trek celebrates at podium as Blue Leader Jersey winner during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Jonathan Milan of Italy and Team Lidl - Trek celebrates at podium as Green Points Jersey winner during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Jonathan Milan of Italy and Team Lidl - Trek celebrates at podium as White Best Young Rider Jersey winner during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
Reaction from Jonathan Milan
It was really important to start well at the Lidl-Deutschland Tour for us, I really gave everything. Mads was really close too, less than a second. For all of us it was important.
It was something different to usual. I think we have a really fast bike and we showed it. We were confident in this.
The season has been really good, we’ve achieved all the goals we had. Now, in this second part of the season I feel really good. We have to all keep going like this.
It was important for the whole team to bring home the win. I would have been happy if it was Mads that finished first. We’re both feeling super good, we’ll try our best.
More photos from the prologue
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Jonathan Milan of Italy and Team Lidl - Trek sprints during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Jonathan Milan of Italy and Team Lidl - Trek sprints during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Mads Pedersen of Denmark and Team Lidl - Trek sprints during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Mads Pedersen of Denmark and Team Lidl - Trek sprints during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Toms Skujins of Latvia and Team Lidl - Trek sprints during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Alex Kirsch of Luxembourg and Team Lidl - Trek sprints during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Daan Hoole of The Netherlands and Team Lidl - Trek sprints during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier of Eritrea and Team Lidl - Trek sprints during 39th Deutschland Tour 2024, Prologue a 2.9km individual time trial stage from Schweinfurt to Schweinfurt / #UCIWT / on August 21, 2024 in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
