"Pogacar, Van der Poel, Van Aert, Evenepoel... That's what they are" - Filippo Ganna wants to improve even further to beat cycling's 'titans'

Filippo Ganna was a generational time-trialist when he surged through in his first years with INEOS Grenadiers but currently, despite improving, he has to battle with a set of 'titans'. The Italian rider struggled to get wins of the same level but he stands his foot and goes into the 2025 season as ambitious as ever.

"It's not the time to choose, it's the time to win. This will be the goal for next season, to triumph as much as possible," Ganna said in words to Gazzetta dello Sport. The Italian won four stages in his debut Giro d'Italia back in 2020 and won the ITT World Championships twice. It was a formidable phase in his career, and ever since he's come out as a very strong classics rider and at times even a quality climber - having the 2023 Vuelta a San Juan GC in his palmarès as well.

But, he is changing up towards the 2025 season in search of the possibility of further improvement at the age of 28. "Yes. On the training front, I will always consult with Dario Cioni, who will remain the reference for the time trials. But I will have a new 'first' coach, the Dutchman Dajo Sanders, for the athletic part. In any case, I will continue to bother Dario all year long," he jokes.

Ganna has won a time-trial at the Giro this year but also finished second to Remco Evenepoel at both Olympic Games and World Championships. At Tirreno-Adriatico he lost a time-trial to Juan Ayuso and at the Giro he lost one to Tadej Pogacar. It is rarely the other time-trial specialists that beat him, but instead it's the incredibly talented stage-racers that have evolved into their current level. Ganna is a very versatile and extremely talented rider but finds himself struggling for wins against a generation of enormously excelled rivals.

"Yes. I will always have phenomena against me, because Pogacar, Van der Poel, Van Aert, Evenepoel... That's what they are. A fight between titans. The good thing, going beyond successes and defeats, is that I have always made progress. The values ​​I have expressed do not lie," he adds however.

Ganna, a track expert, says that he will reduce his calendar there so as to put more focus on the road as will compatriot Jonathan Milan. "No, for two reasons. First of all, because in my program the track training remains, to do those load volumes that I cannot maintain on the road. An extra help and stimulus for the efforts, so, you could say that."

"Los Angeles 2028... I haven't thought about it yet. Time trial, road, track: there are several possibilities. To tell the truth, even managing to reach the 10th world championship on the track would be nice. Then, this year I saw Michael Morkov's farewell on the track, in a velodrome, and I got goosebumps. Who knows, one day".