Filippo Ganna launches his own cycling academy with aim to create the new "champions of tomorrow"

Filippo Ganna looks towards 2026 as a season when he hopefully finally breaks through. It's not that the past year was a failure for Ganna, but his biggest win was a mildly-contested shortened Vuelta a Espana time trial in the streets of Valladolid. And he almost lost that one to Jay Vine as well. Ganna was defeated at European ITT Championships by Remco Evenepoel, and by Mathieu van der Poel at the Milano-Sanremo.

Thus he will be extremely motivated to settle the score with cycling's "phenomenons", including Tadej Pogacar whom he didn't run into as often last year. For Ganna, the 2026 season takes off at Volta ao Algarve next week, and will continue with the Tirreno-Adriatico as a final preparation for Ganna's first big goal of the year: Milano-Sanremo, where he finished runner-up twice in his career (2023 & 2025).

But Ganna's importance extends far beyond just racing. The 29-year-old timetrialist has officially launched a project dedicated to young riders: in his hometown of Vignone, he has launched the Filippo Ganna Academy, which currently involves around 40 students. His father Marco will be in the charge of the project, and the Academy will be run alongside Pedale Ossolano, the same team Ganna himself rode for in the youth categories. In the future, we could see the project extend to junior categories, although the path there will be long, and it's not a part of the immediate future plans.

"We have many goals," Ganna explained. "First and foremost, we want to reintroduce young people to cycling, but we also want to promote a healthy lifestyle, teach respect and the right values, and educate them about coexistence on the road. We don't want these kids to be champions when they're very young, but we want them to be champions 'tomorrow' when it really matters."