Milan Powers to Stage 2 Victory at Critérium du Dauphiné, Takes Yellow Jersey

Italian sprinter overcomes mountain difficulties to claim stage win and overall lead in French race

ISSOIRE, France — Jonathan Milan demonstrated his raw power on Monday, overcoming being dropped on the day’s climbs to win stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Italian’s commanding sprint finish delivered his first stage win at the French race and elevated him to the overall lead, taking the yellow and white jerseys from Tadej Pogačar.

Milan’s victory came at the end of a 204.6-kilometer stage from Prémilhat to Issoire, where his Lidl-Trek team executed a rescue operation after their sprinter was dropped on the category-2 Côte du Château de Buron with 55 kilometers remaining. The triumph marked Milan’s sixth victory of the season in his maiden participation at the Dauphiné.

“It was really tough!” Milan said after claiming the stage victory. “I came here to keep building up the condition and get some nice results after altitude training. Yesterday, I really suffered, it was my first race in a long time… And I suffered a lot again today. It will take me a bit to recover after this day but this victory gives me a big smile and a lot of confidence.”

The stage began with the sun out as the 153-man peloton set off from Prémilhat at midday. The uphill start inspired attackers but the sprinters didn’t want to let too big a group get away. After eight kilometers of battle, Paul Ourselin of Cofidis got away alone.

The leader of the mountains classification opened a gap as high as 6’30” at kilometer 25 and collected six points atop the Côte de la Font Nanaud (category 4, km 33.4), Côte de Saint-Priest-des-Champs (category 4, km 50.5), Côte des Rivauds (category 3, km 61.1) and Côte de Saint Jacques d’Ambur (category 3, km 71.8) to secure the polka-dot jersey for another day.

“At the start of the stage, I was in a slightly more attacking state of mind, but in the end I found myself alone at the front,” Ourselin explained. “That allowed me to pick up the points for the first four climbs, so it was the right strategy. It’s true that being alone made it feel a bit long but after all it was nice, the weather was good.”

Behind Ourselin, several riders tried to counter-attack but Milan’s Lidl-Trek and Mathieu van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceuninck joined forces to control the day. Atop the Côte de Saint Jacques d’Ambur, the gap was still up to 5’05”. It dropped down to 1’15” at the intermediate sprint in Olby at kilometer 102, halfway through the stage.

Three counter-attackers set off to join Ourselin: Romain Combaud (Picnic PostNL), Victor Guernalec (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Chris Juul-Jensen (Jayco AlUla). The peloton only trailed by 20″ at kilometer 106 but the leaders pushed the gap back up to 1’35” with 70 kilometers to go.

On the main ascent of the day, the category-2 Côte du Château de Buron (3.3km at 6.9%), Juul Jensen increased the pace. Guernalec went first over the top while Ourselin and Combaud were caught by the bunch, trailing by 55″.

Milan was dropped with 55 kilometers to go. After a 10-kilometer pursuit with four Lidl-Trek teammates, the Italian got back to the bunch as they entered the final 42.9km circuit.

“I got dropped at one point and I was really on the limit to come back,” Milan reflected. “I have to say a massive thanks to my teammates. If I had been alone, it would have been really complicated to come back but with a team like that supporting you, believing in you, it becomes much easier. They gave me extra-motivation.”

On his childhood roads, Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL) attacked up the Côte de Nonette (category 4) and opened a gap of 8″ at the summit with 17.9 kilometers to go. The Frenchman pushed his lead to 20″ but he was caught just inside the last 10 kilometers, racing on the eve of the start from Brioude, his hometown.

Lidl-Trek took control of the bunch inside the last three kilometers to lead out Milan. Van der Poel followed the Italian’s wheel, but nobody could match Milan’s power when he put the hammer down. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and van der Poel followed him in the stage’s top-3. With Pogačar finishing 41st, Milan also took the yellow and blue jersey.

“There was a battle to follow Milan’s wheel. Everybody knows he’s fastest,” van der Poel said. “And I knew it would be hard to beat Milan, one of the best sprinters in the world. It’s almost impossible for me to beat him in a sprint like that so I’m happy with my performance.”

Van der Poel reflected on both stages: “I’m pretty happy with these two days I had, it was better than I expected. This is also exactly what I needed in terms of shape and there’s a few more days to try and win a stage. Yesterday, normally, I should have been able to win this sprint but given the circumstances, I was already happy to be in the front group. And today, a sprint was inevitable.”

Milan described the perfect execution: “We knew we had to take the last corner at the front and it was just a perfect lead-out. It’s nice to also take the yellow jersey. It means a lot, not just for me, but for the whole team. We’ll see if I can also have it in the Tour. Let’s take things step by step!”

Ourselin looked ahead to future stages: “And then after that I was in the company of three other riders, which was quite nice. Even though I quickly realised that I couldn’t go much further and that I wouldn’t be taking the points on the cat-2 climb. Now I can say that I’m getting the hang of it and I’ve thrown some strength into the battle. So I think I can try to keep the jersey until the stage after Mâcon.”

Stage 2 Results

General Classification After Stage 2