For Filippo Ganna this Giro d’Italia has a different flavour, because he will leave (Saturday 4th) from his native Piedmont and this is an added value for him. The blue does not want to look too far into the future and for this reason his thoughts are all for the pink race and for those two time trials where he wants to finish first. The Olympics will be an important event, but for the moment everything is aimed at the three weeks in which he will travel through Italy and will commit himself to helping his captain, Geraint Thomas, to arrive on the podium in Rome. The first stage will also award the pink jersey and Ganna would like to ride on the roads of his region the following day with that symbol, which he has already worn in 2020, but it will be difficult because his opponents are many and strong and the route is not the simplest .
«I know the roads but in the race everything is different, there are opponents who can put you in difficulty, but we will try to do everything possible to try and if we succeed we will celebrate. But the next day a Oropa will be very challenging and I think it will be faced by the men in the rankings as a first test and arriving in Novara with the pink jersey on my shoulders I think will be really difficult.”
Ganna is the favorite for the two time trial stages, but he also demonstrated his ability to be competitive in the fast finishes and for this reason, he could also find himself wearing the cyclamen jersey of the points classification. There is the time trial in Perugia on May 10th and then that of Desenzano del Garda on the 18th which seems to be perfect for the Piedmontese. «I usually like time trials like the one in Desenzano a lot – said Ganna in the press conference -. It’s a time trial in which, if you get there with a good leg and a good condition, you can truly express your all. As for the sprint stages, with pure sprinters it will be complicated for me because I’m not a sprinter and it’s not my role either. When I did the Vuelta we got close, but with the kilometers there are this year it will be difficult, however we came to try and let’s see what can happen. But I also want to say that I didn’t come to conquer the cyclamen jersey, but I came to give help to my companions and If I succeed I would like to get some results for myself.”
For Ganna, starting from Piedmont will be exciting, not only because it is his region, but because there are many memories he has of the pink race, linked in particular to Turin where in 2021 he came first in the time trial, leaving Affini and Foss behind .
«Leaving for a Giro d’Italia with Italians on the side of the road, for me as an Italian it’s a plus and I’m happy to be here. Then starting from Piedmont, which is my region, is truly exciting. We return to Turin, where in 2021 I did a beautiful time trial but the stage this year will be very challenging.”
At the 2020 Giro we saw one of the best Gannas ever and everyone hopes to be able to see the boy from Verbania even stronger, even if this is the Olympic year and the programs for him could be different, as well as the objectives, moved to the August test. «In 2020 I was very competitive, but the 2024 Giro has yet to begin and we have to see what happens. For the moment I’m at the Giro and I’m thinking about the Giro and when we cross the finish line in Rome we’ll think about everything that comes after.”
Article by Tuttobiciweb.it
