"I did one of the performances of my life" - Filippo Ganna narrowly misses out on Milano-Sanremo win after pushing Van der Poel & Pogacar all the way
Cycling
In arguably one of his career-best performances, Filippo Ganna dealt with everything thrown at him by Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar during Milano-Sanremo 2025. In the end though, the Italian powerhouse wasn't quite rewarded with a Monument win, narrowly losing out to Van der Poel in a thrilling three-up sprint for the line.
Although the repeated and brutal attacks of both Pogacar and Van der Poel on the Cipressa and the Poggio had looked to put Ganna in difficulty, every time the INEOS Grenadiers leader was dropped, he managed to power back using that big diesel engine he has as a time-trial specialist. "I think I did one of my best performances ever," he assesses of his efforts in a post-race interview with Cycling Pro Net. "I just have to say thank you to the team because they believed in me and we arrived really close."
"When I got dropped, I tried to chase full gas on the downhill. I never braked because I said: 'If I crash it doesn't matter'," Ganna reveals. "So yeah, I'm happy, but obviously I'm the first of the losers. I hope to win one day, some great champions needed 14 years before a win but I think I need to do it earlier because my career won't last as long as that!"
Read also
Having been dropped by Van der Poel and Pogacar heading into the finale, many a rider may have settled for 3rd. Ganna though, is not the type. "On the radio they kept screaming: 'Full gas! Go Pippo go!' So I tried to keep going and yeah, I think also the public on the roads gave me and extra boost so I didn't lose motivation in the chase," Ganna explains. "I did one of the performances of my life, and I'm happy to say so."
Ganna (L), Van der Poel (M) & Pogacar (R) on the final podium
"Maybe the only mistake was not anticipating Van der Poel (in the final sprint ed.), but I was a little bit in the red zone. Well not a little bit, a lot in the red zone. I tried to do my best, but sometimes it's really hard," he concludes.
Read also
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.
claps 15visitors 10
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
Loading
1 Comments