Two of the world's greatest sprint interpreters will be missing the appointment with the 2026 Tour de France, which will start on Friday from Barcelona: Paul Magnier and Jonathan Milan.

Both, in fact, redirected by their respective teams to the Giro d'Italia in late May, will watch the Grande Boucle from home, between training sessions to best prepare for the commitments of a second part of the season where each hopes to remain a prominent protagonist.

Unlike the Frenchman, the Friulian from Lidl-Trek will be able to experience this phase wearing the national champion jersey conquered at the Italian Championships in Piedmont, a race that allowed the native of Buja to add an important milestone to his palmares, thus reaffirming, with even greater decisiveness, his status both within and beyond Italian borders, where Alessandro Petacchi, someone who knows a thing or two about sprints, still sees him overall ahead of the rising transalpine talent.

It was precisely on the comparison between them and how the two emerged from the Corsa Rosa that we focused a small part of the interview conducted with the former sprinter from La Spezia in Livigno, a contribution that you will be able to hear in full version, with all the topics covered, in the next episode of Bla Bla Bike.

Alessandro, in your opinion, how did these two great sprinters of contemporary cycling emerge from the Giro?

"Magnier certainly came out strong, and we knew that in a short time he would make this step forward. I had anticipated it because I was at Quick Step and there, speaking with people close to him, they knew very well that he was a guy who could improve and reach this level. He had a great Giro and in some situations he really managed to impress me. In the Naples stage, for example, he started from a standstill and made an incredible comeback: that impressed me more than the sprints he did and where he managed to beat riders like Milan. Jonathan perhaps didn't start in the best way, but in the end he managed to win his stage. I think that, for the rider he is, he wanted to win more, that's for sure, but he found himself facing a tough opponent and besides, maybe he wasn't quite at 100% either. On the other hand, not all races can go as planned, there are many components that come into play, like luck but also the team. From that point of view, perhaps Magnier's team was more structured for sprints compared to Trek, and then he had a Stuyven who, for example, did really great things".

In your personal power ranking, then, where do you place Milan and Magnier at this moment?

"Currently, based on what they've shown and how they came out of the Giro d'Italia, I put them on equal footing, but at a general level, clearly, Jonathan has done more. Magnier still has to prove a lot and must win several more races to reach his level. Milan is a rider who has won stages at the Tour and at the Tour he also won the green jersey, which is not a simple feat: I know what it means and, with all respect for the other races, standing out in that classification in France is another thing entirely. Moreover, managing to do it as a sprinter like him requires truly enormous effort".

To learn about the rest of the conversation with Petacchi, we refer you to the next episode of our podcast coming out in the coming hours.