The penultimate commitment of Jonathan Milan before dedicating himself body and soul to vacation went better than could be expected. At the Tour de France EFGH Singapore Criterium, an event organized by A.S.O. like the Saitama Criterium next week, the Lidl-Trek sprinter dictated the law in the sprint ahead of Girmay and Philipsen, bringing home a victory that, although not counting in official wins, will certainly impact his spirit and how he will archive the 2025 season.

A victory is always a victory, obtaining it is never a given, and it will certainly do no harm. Thus, obtaining another first place in such a satisfying and demanding season can only help the Tolmezzo-based sprinter bid farewell to this year with a smile, the same one Milan displayed before and after today's effort to all the people who gathered on site.

"Today I had fun. The guys performed well, and it was a beautiful and very hard-fought race with two important breakaways, the last of which in particular had some quite strong riders and was caught 800 meters from the finish line," declared the twenty-five-year-old Friulian after the awards ceremony, capable of leaving his mark despite the water and a circuit made undoubtedly more treacherous by the abundant precipitation that fell in the afternoon.

"We did the first hour of the race under quite heavy rain, but we were lucky because it essentially stopped in the last half hour. Overall, it was a nice day, maybe not from a meteorological perspective, but it's a good way to say goodbye to Singapore and now look to Saitama where we hope to do equally well because, in the end, the goal is always to end the year at our best," Milan recounted before delving into the details of the two sprints contested at the Connaught Drive finish line.

"The first sprint, for the intermediate points, I got wrong by taking it too far ahead, and Philipsen passed me, while the second, the more important one with the victory at stake, I approached in a perfect position thanks to Theuns's fantastic work, and by launching from the third position, it went well."

By doing so, Milan secured a victory that allowed him to climb the podium three times, given that with his first place and his teammates' placements, the winner of the last green jersey at the Tour de France was also the best young rider of the competition and a fundamental component of the event's best team, namely Lidl-Trek.

Surrounded by his teammates, Milan thus concluded his competitive efforts in Singapore, a location where he will now stay a few days before flying to Japan, to Saitama, and definitively closing his "2025 chapter".

Photo Credit: A.S.O./ Thomas Maheux