Filippo Ganna hopes two-month long specific preparation will pay off at Olympic time-trial: “I have only slept at home once since the Giro d’Italia"

Filippo Ganna has talked ahead of the Olympic Games and put out a few interesting statements. It becomes clear just how much he's devoted to preparing for the big race against the clock today, but among his words are also words that possibly hint towards him ending his career in the next few years.

“I did the work I had to do. I trained hard. I did endurance training on the road and then explosive training on the track," Ganna said in a press conference ahead of the big day. “I have only slept at home once since the Giro d’Italia. Now I want to finish the Games without having any regrets afterwards. The time trial on Saturday will be tough. It is a difficult course. It is never really flat, you always have to push hard. You also have to have something left for the last few kilometers. To win, I need good legs, I have to ride the race of my life and I cannot make any mistakes.”

It is a day where everything has to go right. In the 32 kilometers that will be ridden in Paris there will not be many technical features but there will be wet roads and the race could be won by just a few seconds. With the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Joshua Tarling on the start line, every wrong move could lead to disaster. In 2021 the Italian won the World Championships but in the Olympic Games he could only do fifth in the difficult course.

Paris could be his last Olympics according to him, and he is looking to make the best of it. “I rode in Rio in 2016 after we got a late call for the team pursuit. Tokyo was a success, but I want to make my move for Italy in Paris. These could be my last Olympics. I’m 28 and Los Angeles seems a long way off," he concluded.