Mighty Milan stars again to net hat-trick of wins after crosswind chaos

It’s going to take more than crosswinds and the kitchen sink to deny Jonathan Milan on this Giro d’Italia. Despite being caught out by a huge split in the peloton with 60km remaining of Stage 13, the Italian’s Lidl-Trek team kept their collective cool before delivering their man to a third sprint win while his main rivals faded.

Belgium’s Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Australians Kaden Grove (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Caleb Ewan (Jayco-AlUla) were nowhere to be seen in the bunch gallop in Cento despite their teams piling on the hurt when Lidl-Trek were caught short on blustery exposed roads.

Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) once again launched too early and allowed Milan to emerge from the wheel of his leadout man Simone Consonni and use the Colombian’s slipstream before powering to the line ahead of Poland’s Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Cofidis) and Germany’s Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious). Dutchman Tim Van Dijk (Visma-Lease a Bike) and France’s Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-Premier Tech) completed the top five.

Race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) negotiated the crosswind chaos without any worry and finished safely in the pack to retain the pink jersey ahead of Saturday’s individual time trial and Sunday’s key summit finish, where the Slovenian will look to put to bed a race that he already leads by almost three minutes.

But the day was less about pink than the ciclamino skinsuit of Milan, who moved 110 points clear of his nearest challenger Groves in the standings of the jersey he won on his Grand Tour debut at last year’s Giro.

A 179km stage with just 202 metres of altitude gain and where the only climbs were bridges always looked destined to be decided with a sprint royale. But that did not stop three Italians from trying their luck with an early breakaway as the peloton left behind Riccione under the sunshine of Emilia Romagna.

Andrea Pietrobon (Polti-Kometa) instigated the move with an attack from the gun that coaxed a reply from Manuele Tarozzi and Alessandro Tonelli, both of VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizane.

The trio’s gap quickly grew to over three minutes before being regulated by the teams of the sprinters. For the best part of three hours, little of merit happened as the escapees shared out the spoils at the three intermediate sprints. But when Milan and his Lidl-Trek team dropped back to answer a call of nature just as the wind was getting up, all hell broke loose.

Filippo Ganna instigated an acceleration from Ineos Grenadiers that saw the pack split in two with 62km remaining – and sounded the death knell for the breakaway. With Milan distanced, the Soudal Quick-Step and Alpecin-Deceuninck teams of Merlier and Groves helped to pile on the pressure.

Soon Lidl-Trek found themselves with a gap of 25 seconds to close in what was a genuine heart-in-mouth moment for Milan. Such was the tempo of the chase that a third group soon found itself off the back, with Italian veteran Domenico Pozzovivo (VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) among the victims.

Lidl-Trek made the connection with 40km remaining before Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) took advantage of the post-crosswind lull to zip off the front. He was joined by Belgian debutant Dries De Pooter (Intermarche-Wanty) as the duo opened up a gap of 30 seconds.

The downside of putting Lidl-Trek under the earlier crosswind pressure was that Milan’s team initially refused to help chase down the counter move, forcing Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal Quick-Step to do the honours. Whether this was partly to blame for their respective sprinters’ shortcomings in the final sprint is unknown. But when push came to shove in Cento, Merlier and Groves crossed the line well down in fifteenth and sixteenth place.

The absence of Stage 3 winner Merlier and two-time runner-up Groves all but lay down the red carpet for Milan. And despite a spirited effort from Aniolkoswki, the 23-year-old rode the coattails of Gaviria before sealing the deal in style.

“Like always the guys did an amazing job,” Milan said after his latest triumph. “We really pushed full gas to come back to the first group and then we stayed in the first positions. They delivered me in a perfect position ahead of the sprint.

“Simone Consonni brought be to the last corner with 400 metres to go but it was amazing how everyone pushed together for this team goal. I’m super happy and super proud of the guys.”

After doing the damage in the crosswinds, Italian powerhouse Ganna will be the favourite to revenge his opening time trial loss to Pogacar on Sunday’s Stage 14 – a flat but technical 31.2km race against the clock from Castiglione delle Stiviere to Desenzano del Garda.

The 107th edition of the Giro then heads above 2,000m for the first time with a gruelling Stage 15 that features the legenrary Mortirolo climb ahead of a summit finish at Mottolino, above the ski resort of Livignio.

If Pogacar has had a quiet second week by his standards, that may all change soon. The two-time Tour de France champion will enter this dual GC showdown with a 2’40” lead over Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) and a further 16 seconds on third place Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers).