Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to news
news
Racing
Giro d'Italia Stage 1: Filippo Ganna takes the maglia rosa (+ video)Filippo Ganna wins opening stage of 2020 Giro d'Italia - picture credit LaPresse, RCS Sport

Giro d'Italia Stage 1: Filippo Ganna takes the maglia rosa (+ video)

A good opening day for Ineos Grenadiers with Geraint Thomas also taking time from overall rivals
by Simon_MacMichael
Sat, Oct 03, 2020 15:49
4

111 years after Luigi Ganna won the first Giro d’Italia, a rider sharing his surname, Filippo Ganna, has become the first rider in this year’s race to pull on the maglia rosa of overall leader.

The Italian, who won the individual time trial at the world championships in Imola the week before last, once again showed that right now he is the best rider in the world against the clock.

His time of 15 minutes 24 seconds put him 22 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger, Joao Almeida of Deceuninck-Quick Step.

Ganna’s triumph in Imola put him alongside Chris Boardman as the only rider to have won the rainbow jersey in the individual pursuit on the track and in the individual time trial on the road in the same reason.

Now, they share the distinction of not only winning those two world titles in the same year, but also leading a Grand Tour in the same season – Boardman taking the first yellow jersey of the 1994 Tour de France after winning the prologue.

Unlike his namesake who won the first edition of the Giro d’Italia, Ganna will not ride into Milan in triumph at the conclusion of the race.

But following today’s 15.1km, downhill time trial from Monreale into Palermo, his Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Geraint Thomas picked up time on all of his rivals for the overall.

The Welshman finished 23 seconds behind Ganna but 26 seconds ahead of Mitchelton-Scott’s Simon  Yates, with Trek-Segafredo’s Vincenzo Nibali a further 43 seconds back.

Already, one contender for the overall victory, Miguel Angel Lopez of Astana, is out of the race, the Colombian crashing out and taken to hospital in an ambulance.#

Reaction

Flilippo Ganna, first leader of the 2020 Giro d'Italia

This is only pride for myself, for the nation and for Italian cycling. My main concern was to ride clean. I’ve seen some riders had problems.

I’ve won four World Championships on the track, one in time trialling and today this wonderful jersey. I hope to not finish my career here and there is more to come. We will now work to help our captain Geraint Thomas.

Giro d'Italia 2020
Filippo Ganna
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

4 comments

Avatar
Christopher TR1 | 4 years ago
1 like

"Unlike his namesake who won the first edition of the Giro d’Italia, Ganna will not ride into Milan in triumph at the conclusion of the race."

 And you know that, do you? Why don't you just tell us who the winner will be then and we can save ourselves 3 weeks of Eurosport.

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to Christopher TR1 | 4 years ago
2 likes

I would say it is an educated guess as he is not a GC cyclist. He is a speciality rider, in this case going fast by himself for a short distance. When Alexander Kristoff won the first stage of the tour and was in yellow, not one person said he would still wear it by the end of the week, let alone at stage 21. As this race as several TT rounds, he might be higher up the pack then most TT specialists finish. Personally I do wonder if he will even still be in the race at the end as the mountain stages could take a real toll in these months (assuming there is not much scrappages of them as inpassible). 

In three weeks time will you come back and tell us where he finished?

Avatar
lesterama replied to Christopher TR1 | 4 years ago
1 like

They know that so far beyond reasonable doubt that the chances of his winning the Giro are almost infinitessimal.

Avatar
Sniffer replied to Christopher TR1 | 4 years ago
0 likes

I doubt Ganna will be in the lead of the Giro on Sunday evening.

He certainly won’t be by the time they have climbed Etna on Monday.

Latest Comments