“I rate his capabilities as a sprinter almost as high as those of Jonathan Milan” – But can Filippo Ganna return Italy to the top of Milano-Sanremo?
Cycling
As the peloton lines up for Milano-Sanremo, all eyes in Italy will be on Filippo Ganna, perhaps the nation’s best hope of ending a seven-year wait for a home victory at the race. The 28-year-old powerhouse has collected stage wins at both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, and has twice worn the rainbow jersey in the time trial. But a Monument? That box remains unticked.
Not since Vincenzo Nibali’s audacious solo victory in 2018 has an Italian stood on the top step of the podium. As the race returns to the Via Roma, could Ganna finally deliver number 52 for Italy?
Alessandro Petacchi, who last claimed this title for Italy in a bunch sprint back in 2005, believes Ganna has more than one path to victory. Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, he praised the INEOS Grenadiers rider’s versatility.
“He can go solo but he can also finish it in a sprint. Filippo does not have the reputation of being a good sprinter but he is really fast, especially at the end of a long and difficult race like San Remo. I rate his capabilities as a sprinter almost as high as those of Jonathan Milan.”
As always, competition will be fierce. Defending champion Mathieu van der Poel, one of the top favourites for today’s race, weighed in on Ganna’s form and threat level.
“Filippo Ganna is in reasonably good shape, but I am not impressed. I think everyone knows how strong he is as a rider and he has been close a few times in San Remo. He will definitely be someone to be reckoned with.”
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- The finale of this race was an absolute mess, and the last crash that took out 1/2 of the field was caused when a double width road very suddenly funneled into a single lane, and riders had nowhere to go. I find it amazing how some of these courses get approved in the first place. So much for the UCI's campaign for improved rider safety.
santiagobenites26-03-2025 - I hope Wout can come back. He has had 3 terrible crashes--not on par with Froome or Bernal, but at his level just a fraction of a percent is all that separates the grand champions of this new generation. Even if he is back all the way physically, those abrupt confrontations with pavement and mortality take a psychic toll, especially for a father of young kids.
Barney26-03-2025 - Everyone was so keen on free speech for a while, what happened ;-) But seriously, the problem is not so much that he gave his view as that someone follows it and spreads it, not totally unlike the schoolkids running US war games at present ;-)Mistermaumau26-03-2025
- We'll see what happens this year, hopefully he finds himself a little stronger.awp26-03-2025
- awp, the way and races he races, he probably doesn’t feel like he needs that many or specific race days before the Tour. His program isn’t very different from other years.Mistermaumau26-03-2025
- No, he just realises he’s not a one-day racer so why should he force himself?Mistermaumau26-03-2025
- Sacrificing E3 and G-W that were planned seems like he was hedging his options and only decided to do it after not winning MSR. Would he have planned to do all 5 and if so why hold back on announcing P-R if it wasn’t conditional? Guess people will get active with predictions now :-).Mistermaumau26-03-2025
- The MTB World title - there is no such thing. However, there are World titles in XCC, XCO, XCM, XCE, Enduro, Downhill......... He's after the World title in XCO, but could probably win the XCC title too, as his record is still better than anybody else, and he hasn't ridden an XCC World Cup since May 2021. Ten wins from twelve races says it all..... However, the XCO course is Crans-Montana is technical - he will surely need plenty of time back on the MTB, both training, and racing, otherwise it's going to be another doomed ambition.wipperman9526-03-2025
- Sweet. I wonder who's up on the next episode of Disgraced Ex-Doper Offers an Unsolicited Opinion?critguy26-03-2025
- well, paris-roubaix isn’t hilly AT ALL. it’s flat. the obstacle isn’t the hills it’s the cobbles, and what i’ve gathered over the years is that it’s almost impossible to imagine the beating that the body takes riding that course at race pace.OCexile26-03-2025