Tour de France: Jonathan Milan lights up the green in Valencia

It was hours of suffering in the Pyrenees passes and on Mont Ventoux that were rewarded in the Drôme prefecture for what was perhaps the sprinters' last opportunity to shine in this 112th edition, which was not very kind to them.

Between Jasper Philipsen's early withdrawal on the third day and the organizers' decision to sprinkle the stages with hills, the big thighs had only crumbs to sink their teeth into and every opportunity was worth gold.

As a sign that everything is difficult for them in this Tour, Milan immediately had a word for his Lidl-Trek teammates who "saved" him in the mountains and allowed him to raise his arms on Wednesday in a finale marked by a violent fall under the red flame.

"Without them, and I really want to make this clear, I wouldn't be here. Every day, they helped me, supported me. It's a team victory today," insisted the colossus from Buja (1.96 m, 87 kg), whose size is very useful in a mass sprint but a real drag on the climbs.

Montmartre "too hard" for Merlier

On Wednesday, he was dropped again on the frankly innocuous climb of Pertuis. And Quinn Simmons, aka "Captain America," one of the main protagonists of this Tour, was once again impressive, jumping into the wheel of the attackers, before catching his leader and then bringing the peloton back to the four breakaway riders of the day - Vincenzo Albanese, Quentin Pacher, Mathieu Burgaudeau, and the super-powerful Jonas Abrahamsen.

Milan knows it will be in for another tough battle on Thursday and Friday when the Tour de France arrives in the Alps for two decisive and formidable mountain stages.

"Glad that the stage is over, with this rotten weather," but otherwise untroubled on Wednesday, Pogacar will defend his 4:15 advantage over Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification.

Milan will be holding on to the prospect of reaching Paris and the final stage on the Champs-Élysées. Traditionally reserved for sprinters, it could this time escape the fast men with the inclusion of the selective Montmartre hill, which the riders will climb three times.

"It will be too hard for me, today was my last chance to win," said Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier.

Milan "more relaxed"

"It will be more complicated to control, a different scenario," said Milan, who is competing in his first Tour de France, without completely burying his chances.

But he stressed the importance of scoring on Wednesday in view of the green jersey classification where he is under direct threat from Tadej Pogacar, "a rock star," according to him.

With the 50 points from their victory in Valencia, Milan now has 312 points, compared to 240 for Pogacar. A comfortable cushion, given that the mountain stages only award 20 points to the winner, and the Paris stage awards another 50.

"I'm a little more relaxed, I've taken my distance, but I'm going to continue to fight every day in the intermediate sprints and aim for victory in Paris," he said.

The other sprinters, like Tim Merlier, have given up. Once again prevented from joining the final race because he was slowed down by the fall at the kilometer mark, the Belgian lamented that he was only able to take part in "two sprints" in this Tour, both of which he won.

As for Biniam Girmay, winner of the green jersey last year, he hit the ground violently in the massive pile-up under the red flame and returned to his Intermarché team bus with a low limp.