Milan looks forward to Rome, but even more to the upcoming mountain stage: "It will be special"

Jonathan Milan could not secure his fourth stage win of this Giro d'Italia on Thursday in Padova, but he still has the purple points jersey firmly on his broad shoulders. The Italian knows that it's not always possible to win and was not too disappointed after the stage.

"I finished second, and that's never nice, especially when your teammates have raced the way they did. I felt good and my family was here, but this was my fault," the broad-shouldered Italian admitted, taking responsibility. "I lost my teammates' wheel in the chaos of the last few kilometers."

"I'm not exactly sure where it went wrong," he added. "It was just my fault, that's all there is to it. Had I followed them, I would have had a great chance of a good outcome, just like in the past three stages. I tried to go for it from a distance and finished second, which I am still happy with. I have to congratulate Tim Merlier and look at how I can do better next time."

Milan looks forward to upcoming stages in Giro d'Italia

"My lead-out men moved ahead, and that was the plan because there was only a short distance from the last corner to the finish line. But in the end, it was the most chaotic sprint I have done so far. However, that's how it goes," Milan said. "Still, I am quite upset about it, especially for my teammates who rode so well. There's still the sprint opportunity in Rome, where I didn't do very well last year due to illness."

"We'll try again there and we'll definitely do that as well as possible," said Milan, who will be racing through his home region on Friday. "So, it's going to be a special stage, especially in my purple points jersey. I'm already looking forward to the people cheering me on from the sidelines."