Following last year’s challenging postponed cycling season, the Giro’s opening time trial in Turin earlier this month felt like a small victory in itself. Of course, for INEOS Grenadier Filippo Ganna, stage one was even more significant as he powered his way to a commanding win and into 2021’s first leader jersey. But if last year taught us anything, it’s that racing – even a time trial – is never a solo endeavor, a truth that would prove itself increasingly evident throughout the next three weeks en route to Milan.
A GRAND RETURN TO FORM
With the Giro back in its typical May time slot, a favorite heading into the race, Egan Bernal, was making a return of his own. Forced to end his last Grand Tour bid due to persistent back injury, Bernal had clearly been working hard in the off-season, alongside stage-one winner Ganna and fellow Grenadier teammates. He seemed to be in top form for Italy’s biggest race, which kicked off in typical style with some early leader exchanges.
Filippo Ganna’s blistering opening time trial pace earned him enough of a lead to keep the pink jersey through stages two and three, before the Maglia Rosa moved to the shoulders of Alessandro De Marchi and Attila Valter. But, as excitement ratcheted up and the Giro headed into the first big mountain stage at stage 9, all eyes began to shift to the grimpeurs.
With six big climbs and an uphill, off-road finish, stage nine was always going to be electrifying, but few may have predicted it would set the narrative for the remainder of the race. Following more than a few thwarted breakaways, the stage came down to the final gravel climb. As team INEOS upped the tempo, Egan Bernal launched his attack, sprinting away from the leaders for his first-ever Grand Tour stage win and confidently into the pink jersey.
IT TAKES A TEAM
Donning the Maglia Rosa takes strength, timing and strategy—holding onto it for twelve more stages takes tremendous resolve and teamwork. With Filippo Ganna leading the way through the flatter, fast-paced stages and Dani Martinez, Salvatore Puccio and fellow Grenadiers trading turns on offense and defense, Egan Bernal had the right team behind (and in front of) him to manage to do just that. Never was this more evident than in Martinez’s heroic pace on the penultimate stage, setting Bernal up with a comfortable lead to carry him through the final 30km time trial into Milan and onto the podium’s top spot.
Congratulations to Egan Bernal on his first Giro d’Italia win. To display such a commanding performance, stage after stage after stage, is all the more impressive considering the tremendous effort it took to return to form after the challenges of last season.
Congratulations to Dani Martinez, Filippo Ganna and every INEOS Grenadier for leading the way to victory while earning the top team distinction along the way. Congratulations to the trainers and coaches and support crew—and from our team at fizik, thank you to everyone involved in returning the Maglia Rosa to its rightful month, ensuring that pink continues to be the color of May. We’re proud to support the glory of the Giro d’Italia together.
Five-time World Champion, three-time individual pursuit world record holder and star of one of the most exciting breakaways of last year’s Giro—Filippo Ganna has certainly made his name known in his short twenty-four years on earth. And while the 2020 season may have been one of the most unusual in any fan’s recent memory, it marked the most memorable of this young Italian’s burgeoning pro cycling career. Claiming victory as a national time-trial winner as well as earning distinction as the first Italian elite men’s time trial World Champion, riding alongside fellow INEOS Grenadiers, Ganna went on to repeatedly don the Maglia Rosa throughout the Giro d’Italia, following each of his four stage wins.
But victory doesn’t come cheap, with countless hours of discipline and hard work required to produce the watts needed to smash records and win World Championships. Recently back from high-elevation training with team INEOS, Filippo joined the Italian national cycling team for laps at the local velodrome, and we tagged along to witness a typical day in the run-up to this summer’s big races, including Ganna’s much anticipated return to the fast-approaching Giro d’Italia and the Tokyo Olympic Games later this summer.
Of course, the first step in any successful day on the saddle starts with dialling in the right set up. Guided by the experience of the team’s mechanic, Ganna’s bike is fine-tuned and adjusted for the best fit for lap after lap around the track. After all, when milliseconds matter, millimetres can make all the difference.
With his bike ready, Filippo steps onto the track, mounts his Pinarello – a work of art worthy of its own place on the podium – and starts to move. Spinning slowly at first, in a way that mimics his atypical approach to racing, he steadily gains speed until he’s little more than a blur, buzzing by with dizzying velocity. Tucking in with his team, they take turns in various positions on the paceline, lap after lap, as together they prepare for the team pursuit. But Ganna has more pressing matters on his mind as he splits off from the others, perfecting his form and building strength to hopefully, once again, come out ahead of the clock during this Giro’s two time trails—while ideally racking up plenty more stage wins along the way. After track laps, Ganna next heads to the gym to build strength through less–lightning-fast–means.
Finally, having completed his workout both on and off the saddle, it’s time for the three R’s of fitness: rest, refuel and repeat. Filippo will be back at it tomorrow, knowing that whether it comes to training on the track for Tokyo, racing the Giro with fellow INEOS Grenadiers or aiming to beat his own world record in the individual pursuit, to outpace the competition, he’ll have to work harder, go further and ride faster—even when that competition comes from within.
Be sure to tune in to watch Filippo Ganna in what promises to be an explosive opening stage of the 2021 Giro d’Italia this weekend, and follow along as Filippo, Egan Bernal, Pavel Sivakov and every member of team INEOS Grenadiers take on Italy’s grandest Tour.
The Giro d’Italia reached a thrilling climax this weekend as the new generation of INEOS Grenadiers riders rounded off an improbable three weeks with a superb Grand Tour win for Tao Geoghegan Hart as Filippo Ganna racked up a fourth stage win in Milan.
The three-week race saw a host of individual and collective displays of the highest level from the team after the loss of captain Geraint Thomas following an unfortunate crash on stage 3.
The Giro began first with a historic performance from UCI world champion Filippo Ganna who, in his first-ever Giro appearance, took the art of time trialling to a new level with the fastest-ever Grand Tour time trial average of 58.8 km/h. Swapping his rainbow stripes for the leader’s pink jersey, he then pushed clear on the final climb of stage 5 for his first career win on the road with a solo attack to conquer the 225km stage with over 4,500m of elevation, confirming his top condition and showing he can win on the road as well as he can against the clock.
The team went on to celebrate a remarkable run of three wins in four stages crowned by Tao Geoghegan Hart, the 25 year-old from Hackney, London, who aboard the Vento Argo R1 courageously ignited unexpected general classification hopes for the team.
Having crashed out of last year’s Giro with a broken collarbone, the win was all the more emotional as he crossed the line pointing to the sky in tribute to the team’s late Sports Director Nico Portal.
On stage 18, in what was surely one of the most memorable days in Giro history against the backdrop of the snow-capped peaks of the Dolomites, the slopes of the legendary Stelvio Pass saw a masterful INEOS Grenadiers performance that caused a dramatic GC shake-up, setting up the prospect of a thrilling final weekend after Tao’s superb second place on the stage moved him up to third place on GC, only 15 seconds away from the pink Jersey with just three stages to go.
Filippo Ganna went all out to win his fourth stage in the final time trial as Tao Geoghegan Hart made a valiant effort to secure the Maglia Rosa of the overall classification. He rode the race of his life, edging out Jai Hindley in the final time trial.
Covering 3,497 km up the length of Italy from Palermo, the capital of Sicily to the northern industrial powerhouse of Milan, the INEOS Grenadiers ended their spectacular run in style, showing truly impressive strength of character and remarkable consistency throughout the three-week race. Their spirited, attacking racing, record-breaking performances and unfailing team support played a central role in what is sure to go down as one of the greatest performances in one of the most memorable editions of Giro d’Italia history.
Congratulations to Tao Geoghegan Hart and the INEOS Grenadiers!
