At the Track World Championships in Shanghai, Jonathan Milan delivered the defining time before the final even began. He covered four kilometres in individual pursuit qualifying in 3 minutes 58.850 seconds, trimming roughly three tenths from the world record he already held. His average speed was 60.289 km/h. Because the rider races alone in this event, that time reflects an ability to sustain exceptional speed across the full distance rather than rely on a final sprint.
Milan then beat Denmark’s Frederik Madsen in the gold-medal ride, finishing in 4:00.769. That was slower than his record run, but the final was a head-to-head contest whose prize was the title. Fellow Italian Filippo Ganna took bronze. Ganna had won the individual pursuit world championship six times, so the podium brought together two generations of Italian track success on the same evening.
Milan’s achievement also matters beyond the velodrome. He won the Giro d’Italia points classification in both 2023 and 2024 and is known for his sprint power on the road. The four-kilometre pursuit demands a different rhythm: a fast launch, precise pacing and the strength to keep speed from fading over sixteen laps. The Shanghai record and rainbow jersey show how one rider can translate his engine between road racing and the exacting demands of the track.