“Ask Groves to do a time-trial!" - Filippo Ganna in a joking mood after narrowly missing out on sprint win at La Vuelta
Cycling
By no means a true sprinter, the raw power of Filippo Ganna once again saw him come close to a stage win at the 2023 Vuelta a Espana, narrowly missing out on stage 19 success to Alberto Dainese.
“The boys were fantastic today,” the Italian told Eurosport in a post-stage interview. “They got to the front of the bunch and did a great job. Unfortunately, I am not a sprinter. When the peloton slowed down a bit, I started from too far. With three hundred meters to go, I had to start, because the speed was going away. I lost another sprint with little difference.”
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As he mentioned there, Ganna still isn't completely comfortable in the hustle and bustle of a bunch sprint and on stage 19, that was worsened by a late crash that wiped out the Alpecin-Deceuninck train. “Sometimes people lack focus. They do not look forward, but look around or behind them. Then something like this happens," Ganna says of the incident.
Concluding the interview with a smile, Ganna was praised for another impressive sprint given it's not his forte and the Italian responded with a hilarious quip of his own. “Yeah, it’s like ask Groves to do a time-trial!”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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Interviewer “Second time in #Lavuelta23 in a sprint is not a bad thing considering you speciality is time trial” Ganna - “Yeah it’s like ask Groves to do a TT”
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