Filippo Ganna won his eighth Giro d'Italia stage in Massa and set a new record speed for a Grand Tour time trial over 40km, but the Italian wants to win even more, with the stage to his hometown of Verbania on Friday the next on his hit list.
Ganna lived up to expectations and his top billing, winning the 42 km time trial in a time of 45:53 at an average speed of 54.905 km/h. He beat Netcompany Ineos teammate Thymen Arensman by 1:53 and everyone else by more than two minutes.
"It was a long, hard time trial - 42km and a 45-minute effort are never easy to manage and pace. We had a schedule to follow, and we stuck to it," Ganna explained.
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"I don't look at other people's times, I just look at what I have to do. I was awake at 5 a.m. with the adrenaline already flowing and lots of emotions, but now it's done, I'm happy with my ride.
"Is it my best ever time trial? No, that has still to come."
However, it was a record-breaking time trial. Ganna caught eight riders who started ahead of him and powered round a huge gear of 64x10, admitting he had a bidon with carbohydrates but that he didn't have time to even take a sip.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Ganna set a new record speed for a Grand Tour time trial over 40km. The previous record was held by Britain's David Millar, who set an average speed of 54.351 km/h at the 2003 Tour de France.
Ganna holds the absolute record for Giro time trials after winning the 15km stage from Monreale to Palermo in 2020 at 58.831 km/h. He is also the current Hour Record holder.
Ganna last won a Giro time trial in 2024 when he beat Tadej Pogačar to win in Desenzano. He has won seven time trials and one road stage. Now he wants at least one more stage before Rome. Verbania seems perfect, with stage 18 from Fai della Paganella-Pieve di Soligo also a possible day for a breakaway and power rouleurs like Ganna.
"I'd love to win another stage before the end of the Giro," Ganna confirmed.
"I can't deny my home stage to Verbania stands out for me, but we'll have to see if the peloton lets me go in a break and then lets us stay away."
Ganna and Arensman finished first and second on the stage, and the Dutch rider moved up to third overall. He gained and is now 1:30 down on the Dane. Netcompany have GC aspirations with Arensman, but Ganna has earned his stripes and his freedom to also target staged.
"When the stages suit Thymen, I'll of course be ready to work for him. But there are eight of us in the team, when I get the green light to go on the attack, I'll play my cards," Ganna made clear.
"In 2020, we won a lot of stages and the GC with Tao Geoghegan Hart. When there are stages with more than 400 metres of altitude gain, there's not much I can do for Thymen in the mountains."
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