SINGAPORE: Tour de France green jersey winner Jonathan Milan overcame tricky wet conditions to claim victory at the Tour's Singapore Criterium in a dramatic sprint finish on Sunday.
On a circuit saturated by a heavy pre-race storm, the 25-year old Italian outpaced former Tour de France points classification winners Biniam Girmay of Eritrea and Jasper Philipsen of Belgium on the final run to the finish line.
Girmay was runner-up while Philipsen, who won the Singapore race in 2023 and was runner-up behind Mark Cavendish last year, finished third.
While Milan had not previously raced in Singapore, he adapted well to the tropical monsoon conditions.
"It's pretty special to be here for the first time and to bring home a nice result," he said.
"I have to say that I was not expecting this weather.
"The last couple of days were pretty hot, but today for the first hour of the race it was raining a lot and that can sometimes influence the race.
"But the road was pretty good and it was clean and I was able to ride really well on the bike."
Ben Healy attempted a breakaway at the start of the final lap in the 60-kilometre race, but the Irish rider was caught by the peloton 700 metres from the finish line with Milan well positioned at the front of the field.
"The team did a really good job," said Milan of his Lidl-Trek team-mates. "We had few attacks and with the last one, they closed the gap and positioned me for the sprint in a perfect way."
The riders will now travel to Japan to compete in the Tour de France Saitama Criterium next weekend. — AFP
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