Filippo Ganna is without doubt one of the strongest riders within the WorldTour peloton, and managed to provide the watts to defy gravity on the ultimate climb of stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico however then his chain failed the same check as he raced to the end in Pergola.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider was about to attempt to dash to the road or chase down Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility) who was nonetheless clear after being within the break of the day. Suddenly he was left spinning his legs as his rivals rode away from him.
Fortunately, the issue occurred within the closing three kilometres of the stage so Ganna was given the identical time because the chasers and saved his blue race chief’s jersey for one more day.
“I hit a gap within the street, my chain received caught up between the cog and the body. I attempted to get it again on with a strong flip of the pedals however broke off the derailleur…” Ganna defined post-stage, nonetheless dissatisfied on lacking out on an opportunity of one other stage victory.
“I’m dissatisfied. Every time I trip nicely, one thing occurs. It may have been so completely different in the present day,” he mentioned, apologising to his Ineos Grenadiers teammates for all their exhausting work and to his staff automotive for venting his frustration on them as they struggled to grasp what had occurred and what he wanted.
Ganna seems to be stronger than his chain and stronger than ever. He will certainly be a Milan-San Remo contender, simply as he was lately and particularly in 2023 when he completed second, beating Wout Van Aert and Tadej Pogačar in a dash behind solo winner Mathieu van der Poel.
“We’ve labored exhausting this winter and tried to enhance,” Ganna mentioned merely.
“Last 12 months I used to be unwell rather a lot within the winter however thankfully to date this 12 months, contact wooden, I’ve been tremendous. Let’s hope it stays that means, at the least for one more week, till Milan-San Remo.
“2020 is an effective comparability of my type this 12 months. I’m now 5 kilogrammes heavier however I’ve placed on muscle and misplaced fats. People say I’m too skinny however I’m nonetheless round 86kg.”
Ganna received the opening time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico and will have opted to keep away from struggling within the hills. Instead, he took recommendation from teammate Geraint Thomas and has now worn the blue chief’s jersey from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic coast.
He is predicted to lose the jersey on Saturday’s decisive mountain end to Frontignano, which ends with a 7.7km climb at 7.8% however will go down combating.
“We spoke to Geraint Thomas final night time and requested him if he thought I ought to ease up and begin to get well for Milan-San Remo or hold racing exhausting,” Ganna revealed.
“He satisfied me that with the shape I’ve, I ought to attempt to hold the jersey for one more day. Geraint mentioned I can take pleasure in an additional day in mattress subsequent week.
“For now I simply wish to get to the resort and loosen up. It was one other exhausting 200km day within the saddle with lots of adrenaline and disappointment. I’ll take into consideration tomorrow’s stage tomorrow.”
