Dominant Ganna storms to Worlds TT gold

25 Sep 2020

Dominant Ganna storms to Worlds TT gold

World Championships time trial: Imola > Imola, 31.7km.

Filippo Ganna put in a dominant performance to storm to gold in the men's time trial at the World Championships. 

Ganna won the 31.7km TT for Italy by 26 seconds in windy conditions from Wout van Aert (Belgium) and 29 seconds from third-placed Stefan Küng (Switzerland) in a superb display on home soil.

There were also strong rides from Geraint Thomas who finished fourth (+37") and Rohan Dennis (+39") as the INEOS Grenadiers had three riders in the top five. 

Thomas was the early pacesetter and sat in the hotseat with his time of 36:31.12 which was nearly a minute faster than the previous best.

However, Ganna looked the most likely to dethrone the Welsh rider as he powered though the intermediate time check fastest on course, with Dennis second. 

Thomas looked to have secured a podium place, but Küng and then Van Aert narrowly bested his time to see him finish fourth, before Ganna stormed to the line and secured the world TT title. 
Reaction

Filippo Ganna

"It's a dream for me, I'm really happy. At the finish I had really good support in the car and I’d like to thank the whole team of Italy and INEOS Grenadiers.

"It's a dream. I won four rainbow jerseys on the track and this is my first in the time trial."
Geraint Thomas finished fourth for Great Britain

Geraint Thomas finished fourth for Great Britain

Reaction

Geraint Thomas

"It was tough, headwind out and tailwind back so you had to commit on the way out. I'm pretty happy with how it went, I think it looks good for the month ahead at the Giro.

"It's the first one I've ever done, it's the first time I've felt good for the Worlds as normally I'm empty for the end of the season. It was good to be in the mix, I'd have loved to have won a medal but that's the way it goes."

"The legs seem pretty good which is good as the TTs are important in the Giro."
Final standings

1. Filippo Ganna (Italy) 35:54:10
2. Wout van Aert (Belgium) 27"
3. Stefan Küng (Switzerland) +30"
4. Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) +37"
5. Rohan Dennis (Australia) +40"
Rohan Dennis finished fifth

Rohan Dennis finished fifth