Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) took his first road race win on French soil on stage two of the Critérium du Dauphiné, outsprinting Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in Issoire.
The big Italian made use of a sterling leadout from Lidl-Trek in the final kilometre to get ahead of his rivals as he opened up his sprint. After Simon Consonni peeled off, it was over to Milan to finish the job.
Wright and Van der Poel both launched powerful sprints in their own right but could not come past Milan with the line in sight.
The win also meant that Milan will wear the race leader’s yellow jersey on stage three after he jumped ahead of Tadej Pogačar in the general classification.
"It was really tough," he said afterwards. "Our goal was to come here and keep building up the condition and get some good results. Yesterday I was suffering a lot, it was my first race after a long time, but today I suffered a lot again and dropped at one point. I have to thank my teammates as they got me back on and brought me to the last metres. Massive thanks to them."
He added: "We knew that we had to take the last corner in the front, it was perfect the way we did that. It’s pretty nice to take yellow, I have to say."
How it happened
After the unexpected general classification drama that unfolded 24 hours previously, stage two of the Critérium du Dauphiné was set to be an undulating, hilly affair across 204 kilometres between Prémilhat and Issoire. On paper, it was a stage for the breakaway experts with six minor classified climbs littering the parcours.
An initial four-man move went clear early on consisting of Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Romain Combaud (Picnic-PostNL), Victor Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Paul Ourselin Cofidis). The gap to the lead quartet fluctuated between a minute and a half and two minutes for much of the afternoon’s action in the foothills of the Massif Central.
With 50 kilometres remaining to the finish, Juul-Jensen and Guarnalec were the last men standing and had a gap of just 19 seconds over the chasing peloton. Alpecin-Deceuninck, Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Emirates flooded the front of the main field in an attempt to eat into the remaining deficit to the leaders.
Meanwhile, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan was dropped due to the increase in tempo and struggled off the back. It was all over for Juul-Jensen and Guarnalec just five kilometres later when the bunch finally made contact with the lead duo.
Once the break had been caught, the peloton appeared to knock off the pace as the finish drew closer, with the average speed rarely climbing over 40 kmph. Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) was ever present at the head of the peloton, marshalling the group as they approached the final climb of the day, the category four Côte de Nonette, which came 18 kilometres from the line in Issoire.
As the summit approached, Romain Bardet (Picnic-PostNL) jumped clear of the bunch on his local roads and attempted to get away. The move from the soon to retire French was short lived, with the peloton soon bringing him back into their midst.
UAE led the peloton under the kilometre to go banner as the sprint teams looked to wind it up for the run in. Lidl-Trek were the first team through the last corner with Milan perfectly positioned. The Italian launched a devastating sprint that meant he beat Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) comfortably by a few metres.
Results
Critérium du Dauphiné 2025, stage two: Prémilhat > Issoire (204.6 km)
1. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek, in 4:54:49
2. Fred Wright (Gbr) Bahrain Victorious,
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck,
4. Stian Fredheim (Nor) Uno-X Mobility,
5. Paul Penhoët (Fra) Groupama-FDJ,
6. Emilien Jeanniere TotalEnergies,
7. Bastien Tronchon (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale,
8. Yevgeniy Federox (Kaz) XDS Astana,
9. Matis Louvel (Fra) Israel-Premier Tech,
10. Clement Venturini (Fra) Arkea-B&B Hotels, all at same time
General classification after stage two
1. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek, in 9:34:51
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, at same time
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck, +2s
4. Fred Wright (Gbr) Bahrain Victorious, +4s
5. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
6. Hugo Page (Intermarché - Wanty), +8s
7. Anders Foldager (Den) Jayco-AlUla, +9s
8. Nils Politt (Ger) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, at same time
9. Bastien Tronchon (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +10s
10. Paul Penhoët (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at same time
