Filippo Ganna described Remco Evenepoel as "like a bullet" after the Belgian beat him yet again to win the UEC European time trial championship in France.
Evenepoel has won the world title for the last three times, defeating Ganna in 2023 and 2024. He also beat the Italian at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and even in a time trial stage at the 2022 Giro d’Italia. The last time Ganna got the better of Evenepoel in a major time trial championship was back in 2021 at the world championships.
Evenepoel is now the current Belgian, European, World and Olympic time trial champion. He combines his power and ability with a low CdA Aerodynamic drag. Ganna can generate more power but his stature and weight play against him on the climbs and against Evenepoel.
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“Compared to last year, I’m three to four kilos less and doing more numbers. He’s just a f**king rocket. There’s nothing to say,” Ganna said in the post-race press conference.
“He’s like a bullet. He’s super aero, and the material that he uses makes for a lot. We try to beat him but you can’t be competitive against him in every race. He weighs no more than 70kg, so there’s a 12kg difference. I’m skinnier than last year and the year before. I can’t do more than this. I’ve tried training more, but it’s not been enough.”
Evenepoel won the rolling 24km time trial in a time of 28:26 and was the only rider to at an average speed over 50km\h, despite sections exposed to cross and side winds. Ganna was 43 seconds slower, with Denmark’s Niklas Larsen third at 1:08.
Evenepoel caught and passed his minute-man Stefan Küng, with the two-time former European champion finishing eighth at 1:47.
Ganna did not ride the hilly Rwanda world championships and had time to prepare for the European championships after completing the Vuelta a España. However, he could not compete with Evenepoel, who had dashed to France from Rwanda after finishing second to Tadej Pogačar in Sunday’s gruelling road race.
"I followed my pace plan, did even a little better than that. At the first intermediate point, we knew Remco had a small lead. Then on the finish climb, my weight put me at a disadvantage. I can assure you: those twelve extra kilos on a climb don't make it easy."
"Remco is the world champion, he just won the jersey in Rwanda and also the European jersey, so there’s nothing much else to say."
"For sure, the wind didn't help me. If you see the big guys, I'm the only one in the front, the others did not arrive in the best positions. The CdA was more important compared to last year.
"I recovered well after the Vuelta, but so did Remco after six and a half hours and 6,000 metres of climbing. So congrats to him.”
Ganna is hoping for a better result and perhaps a European title in the Mixed Relay time trial, where Italy is the favourite.
