Top Ganna also reigns in Flanders

Filippo Ganna can rule the world from any country. A year after becoming the first Italian rider to win the individual time trial, in Imola (Italy), the Italian held on to his rainbow jersey by winning the opening event of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships in Flanders. He covered the 43.3km between Knokke-Heist and Bruges in 47:47.83 (54.355km/h), 5secs faster than the runner-up Wout van Aert (BEL). Remco Evenepoel (BEL) rounded out the podium with a time of 48:31.17.

“Today, when I woke up, I had a good feeling in my legs,” Ganna celebrated after. “To defend this jersey is very important to me and I hope to honour it next year. I woke up with the dream of winning. I wanted to keep this jersey and it’s fantastic. My rivals motivate me to improve and keep this jersey.”

Evenepoel quickly impresses

Panama’s Christofer Jurado was the first rider off in humid conditions. Fifty-seven contenders would follow him in the afternoon until the defending UCI World Champion, Ganna, started just after 4pm. His Italian compatriot Matteo Sobrero, the second on the start ramp from the seaside, set a strong early reference of 50:53.23.

He would then be beaten by the Brit Daniel Bigham (49:58.45), Slovenia’s Jan Tratnik (49:51.89) and the Swiss bull Stefan Bissegger (49:13.27). But most fans around the world, and especially the crowds lining the roads leading to Bruges, had already turned their attention to a Belgian star storming to the line right behind Bissegger. Faster than all of his opponents through the first two intermediate points, Remco Evenepoel set a provisional best time of 48:31.17 – 42secs faster than Bissegger.

As the young star was finishing his effort, a couple of years after taking silver in the 2019 UCI Worlds, an icon was taking on his last individual time trial of a career that’s seen him claim four rainbow jerseys in the discipline and three more gold medals in the team events: Tony Martin. Martin covered his final ITT in 49:05.10, the second best provisional time when he reached the line, with only 10 riders still on the road behind him.

“The upcoming time trial and mixed relay UCI World Championships will be the last races in my career,” Tony Martin (GER) announced this Sunday. “Such a far-reaching decision is of course not easy to make. Cycling has been a large part of my life for a long time, with highs and lows, big successes and losses, crashes and comebacks. What many young riders dream of, I have achieved.”

A thrilling battle until the last metres

After everyone had gone through the first intermediate point, local star Wout van Aert had the best time ahead of Filippo Ganna (+6.68), Stefan Küng (+17.60), Kasper Asgreen (+21.46) and Remco Evenepoel (+28.44), now fifth.

But Evenepoel had accelerated through the second section and few could match his increased pace. At the second point, Wout van Aert had increased his lead to 31.73secs over his compatriot… But Filippo Ganna was trailing by less than a second (+0.84) while everybody else was slowly losing ground.

Van Aert’s final push allowed him to beat Evenepoel by 38secs. But right behind him, Filippo Ganna stormed to the line 5.37secs faster than the local star. A year after he conquered the world at home, in Imola, Ganna is the fifth rider to win a second rainbow jersey in a row in the Men’s Elite ITT, after Michael Rogers (AUS), Fabian Cancellara (SUI), Tony Martin and Rohan Dennis (AUS).