Third sprint was the charm for Jonathan Milan, who powered to victory in Laval to claim his maiden stage win in the Tour de France. Lidl-Trek’s powerhouse not only raised his arms in triumph for the first time, he also ended Italy’s longest drought in the history of the race. 113 stages had passed since Vincenzo Nibali’s success in Val Thorens (stage 20 of the Tour 2019), which corresponds to the emergency number for the police in Italy. On day 114, Milan answered the call! With his stellar record on the track, Milan also continues the trend of winning world champions in this Tour. Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) completed the stage top 3 while Mathieu Burgaudeau and Matteo Vercher (Total Energies) shared the combativity award as recognition of their grit.
After a couple of explosive stages in perfect weather conditions, the Tour de France 2025 returns to a flat stage between Saint-Méen-le-Grand (Louison Bobet’s hometown), promised to sprinters. Temperatures are on the rise - the thermometer reads over 30°C. Headwinds also hinder the progress of the peloton.
Milan calls the shots
Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty) quickly take the reins to drive the bunch at 41 km/h en route to the intermediate sprint set in Vitré (km 85.5).
As usual since the start of the Tour, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) is the fastest on the line. The Italian powerhouse has claimed 112 of his 142 points in intermediate sprints (the other 30 came with his 2nd place in Dunkirk). This time, he gets the better of Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Anthony Turgis (Total Energies) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty).
Burgaudeau and Vercher show their grit
After the intermediate sprint, Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies) accelerates. Simmons controls his move but the French attacker goes again at km 90, this time with a teammate, Matteo Vercher. The two riders open a gap of 1 minute as they go through Ballots (km 114.9).
Over the only climb of the day - Côte de Nuillé-sur-Vicoin (summit with 16.4km to go) -, the gap is down to 40’’ with many teams taking the front positions. Burgaudeau and Vercher both receive the combative awards - a situation that previously happened in 1978 (Yves Hézard and Raymond Martin in Super Besse), 2011 (Juan Antonio Flecha and Johnny Hoogerland in Saint-Flour) and 2016 (Julian Alaphilippe and Tony Martin in Bern).
Burgaudeau continues solo as Vercher is done with 13 kilometres to go. He’s eventually caught 9 kilometres further into the stage. The pace is impressive all the way to the slightly rising finish in Laval, where Milan displays his raw power and ends Italy’s drought, 114 stages after Vincenzo Nibali’s success in Val Thorens (stage 20 of the Tour 2019).
