An improvised lead out, Black Sea winds and pink jersey hunger: Jonathan Milan on a potentially explosive stage one

Friday's opening stage of the Giro d'Italia is all about the battle of the big men. With Dylan Groenewegen, Paul Magnier and Kaden Groves all hungry for the first pink jersey, Jonathan Milan is going to have his work cut out. IDL Pro Cycling sat down with 'The Bear of Buja' and sports director Gregory Rast, before the sprint battle kicks off.

Milan has already won the points classification twice at the Giro, but the pink jersey has so far eluded him. He did pull on the yellow jersey at last year's Tour de France in Lille — something he is hoping to repeat in Burgas on Friday.

"It's a very important day for me, but it certainly won't be easy," Milan confirms. "Last year I won in the Tour, but that was also after echelons had shredded the peloton. This time too, I expect all my rivals to be razor-sharp and I'll need to be at my best."

The natural follow-up question: is he at his best? "After Roubaix I left the bike alone for three days, which I genuinely needed. Then I started back gradually and even did some track work. All in all the build-up has been really good — and I've now been able to do it this way a few times after the spring." A man who has already struck four times at the Giro in his career sounds confident going into Friday.

Milan does arrive with a reshaped sprint train. "We have had to improvise a little," Rast explains. "Edward Theuns is not with us for personal reasons and we have brought in Tim Torn Teutenberg as a replacement — he is new to the train. Max [Walscheid] has also only been with us since this year, but like Simone [Consonni] he has plenty of experience."

"Normally the order is Tim Torn — Max — Simone — then Milan, but how it actually plays out in practice? Take stage three, where we finish on an eight-kilometre motorway straight. You can plan whatever you like, but in the end it mostly comes down to improvising." Milan nods. "The most important thing is that I have always had a strong train at this team — and that is still the case now."

What can the big, powerful Italian tell us about that all-important opening stage into Burgas? "A lot — but I want to see it for myself on Thursday first. Then I'll let you know," he says with a wink. "The stage mostly runs on wide dual carriageways, so that generally looks fine," adds Rast, who had already been studying it on VeloViewer.

"The one thing I was slightly worried about is the wind. You know it can blow hard in Belgium, but Bulgaria? I started checking a week ago and it's nothing crazy, but there are a lot of exposed sections," the Swiss explains.

He too will be looking at the finale closely on Thursday. "Towards the end we do go from dual carriageway to a single road, but we really need to see that with our own eyes. You can see it in the roadbook, but not really. And then on the day itself you also only find out how the barriers are positioned and how much room there actually is."

Nobody is going to hand them anything. "I expect Paul Magnier, who is also in contention for the points classification — and in stage one certainly Dylan Groenewegen. Tobias Lund Andresen has also shown what his train can do in Tirreno-Adriatico," says Milan. "I also immediately think of Matteo Malucelli and Matteo Moschetti, who are incredibly fast," adds Rast.

In the long run, a third Maglia Ciclamino is firmly on Milan's agenda. "Just as it is at every Grand Tour. But we'll take it day by day and sprint by sprint, hoping to have something tangible at the end of the Giro. In total there are five or six sprint opportunities and that is, of course, where we hope to win first."

Finally — since we are here in Bulgaria as uninitiated Europeans: what can Rast tell us about the other two stages? "Stage two also looks good. The finish goes over cobbles briefly, but that is mainly because it will look spectacular on camera. There are some narrow stretches on the climbs but it's manageable."

"Stage three finishes on a motorway. Can Jonathan survive the climb mid-stage [9.2 kilometres at 5.3% average]? One hundred per cent," Rast says without hesitation. "Some teams might try to drop him — they're welcome to try."

"Stage two is tougher, though. I could maybe see a Tobias Lund Andresen surviving that one. But it depends on how the race unfolds — it's three kilometres at eight per cent and then ten to twelve kilometres on fairly technical roads. That's serious, especially if someone like Jonas Vingegaard decides he wants to race."