Jonathan Milan has a big smile on his face, just before climbing onto the Tour podium again, a podium that is becoming a bit like home for him. "This morning I told you - he begins - I really wanted to win this stage. We knew we might find rain at the finish, but certainly not this much. And I confess I was a bit afraid of the roundabouts at the end, there's always a risk of slipping. But there was a great job by the guys who controlled the race perfectly, they helped me get back when I dropped on the climb, they went to catch the breakaway and brought me to the best position: truly exceptional".

And further: "Stuyven made a huge effort to bring me to the front and put me in the perfect position to launch the sprint. I just thought about following Jasper and the others who were guiding us, trying to reach the head of the group. Then afterwards, I knew I just had to go all out. A great victory and a good points haul that allows me to gain ground in the standings against Pogacar".

Milan now has a good advantage in the green jersey classification, but knows that to be sure of winning the points classification, he'll have to wait until Sunday, when the Tour de France will be over. The Friulian also thinks it's not strange that Pogacar is among the favorites for the points classification, because he considers him a complete rider, capable of winning on any terrain.

"I think that if you're just a climber, then it's normal to win the general classification, but when you're a rider like Tadej Pogacar, then it's normal that you can win any classification, even the green jersey. I don't think the way of counting points was strange, now we have a good advantage, we'll continue to fight for points in the next few days. I'm happy with what we've achieved so far and we'll continue to do our best".

Jonathan Milan is at his first participation in the Grande Boucle and the result so far is certainly positive. His first victory came in Laval on the eighth stage: that day he was very emotional, while today he appeared more relaxed, because he has the confidence of being able to achieve important results in the most important and difficult race in the world.

"Now I'm a bit calmer compared to the first victory, because we've taken more points for the sprinters' classification, but we'll continue to fight to get more in the next few days. Now the goal is to get through the Alps and reach Paris. We have other stages ahead: I can't say I'm relaxed, but I'm really happy and confident because I have a team that supports me, that is always by my side, and we'll tackle things day by day until Paris".

There's then the promise to see you with the green beard...

"It's a bet that was born like this, talking with my teammates and now it's being talked about too much. But it's too early to talk about it, there are still many stages to face, there's a lot of effort to be made to get to Paris and only then can we talk about the green beard...".