“I would like to be the same Filippo as I was then" - Ganna hoping to replicate form from 2020 Giro d'Italia

A six-time Giro d'Italia stage winner, Filippo Ganna will take to the start ramp on the opening time-trial of the 2023 edition of the race, one of the favourites to take the first Maglia Rosa and the INEOS Grenadiers rider is keen to impress.

“I would like to be the same Filippo as I was then this year. So I will definitely try it again," Ganna says to Gazetta dello Sport. Five of the Italian's six stage wins have come from time-trials including all three of the races against the clock in 2020, which is what Ganna refers to here. "But of course, it is still difficult. I'm also five kilograms heavier, because the muscle mass I've built up for the spring classics hasn't disappeared yet."

Alongside Ganna, the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic and Stefan Kung are all also considered amongst the favourites for the stage and the first Maglia Rosa of this year's Giro d'Italia. “I think it's a nice novelty. Evenepoel says that Stefan Küng and I are the favourites. I think he and Primoz Roglic are also among the top favorites in this time trial," Ganna explains.

"I am fully focused on my own performance and will try to give the very best. I also circled the second time trial in my road book with red," he continues. "I'm calm. I know that I trained very well and that I did everything to the best of my ability. The level of trust is therefore high. When I used the time trial bike in training, the values ​​were good."