"It was my mistake to take the last corner only in fourth position. I should have stayed behind Magnier and started sprinting from there," he admitted.
The result marked Milan's third top-five finish of this year's race, following a fourth-place finish on the opening day and a second-place finish in stage three.
However, the pressure has been mounting as the Grand Tour enters its final week without a victory for the Lidl-Trek sprinter.
"After the first week we had some good results, but we didn't achieve what we came for," Milan told Cyclingnews on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
He previously dismissed criticism regarding his lead-out train, attributing his shortcomings to the unpredictable nature of final-kilometer bunch sprints.
Milan expressed confidence that remaining flat stages would provide opportunities. "Rome will be 100 percent a sprint, but maybe there will be more chances.
We will see," he concluded.
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The final opportunity for Milan and Lidl-Trek to secure a stage victory comes during the flat final stage in Rome on Sunday, May 31, 2026.
