“There was a real risk I wouldn't make the start” — After Tour crash disaster, Filippo Ganna was almost forced to skip Vuelta return

Filippo Ganna’s imminent return to Grand Tour racing at the 2025 Vuelta a Espana nearly didn’t happen. After a crash in the opening stage of this year’s Tour de France forced the Italian to abandon just hours into the race, Ganna faced another unwelcome setback: a bout of gastrointestinal illness that almost ruled him out of La Vuelta altogether.

Speaking on the eve of the 80th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour during the team presentation in Turin — his home region’s capital — Ganna opened up about the turbulent summer that followed his early exit from the Tour in comments collected by TuttoBiciWeb.

“There was a real risk I wouldn’t make the start,” he admitted, standing before a packed piazza. “I had some gastrointestinal issues after the crash. It wasn’t just the injury — I had to give the body time to recover properly. But with the Vuelta starting here, in Turin, I knew I had to be on that start line.”

Ganna, who turned 29 this summer, is back in INEOS Grenadiers colours after what he wryly described as the “shortest race of my life”. “I was joking about it the other day with my masseur, Piero [Baffi],” he said, smiling. “It’s not exactly the way I imagined my Tour going.”

For the two-time time trial world champion, the Vuelta represents both unfinished business and a shot at redemption. His 2025 season began promisingly, with strong early-season form suggesting he might play a key role for the INEOS Grenadiers across the Grand Tours. However, a campaign marked by inconsistency and ill fortune has left him looking to Spain for a decisive finale. “It’s been a season of highs and lows,” he reflected. “I started well, but then things got a bit unpredictable. Still, I really wanted to be here. It means a lot.”

Indeed, Turin holds special significance for Ganna. It was there, in 2021, that he won the opening time trial of the 104th Giro d’Italia and pulled on the maglia rosa — the first of his Grand Tour stage victories. That moment marked a key turning point in his transition from world-class pursuit specialist to time trial powerhouse on the road.

Three years later, returning to the same city to begin another Grand Tour campaign — albeit under very different circumstances — offered a poignant reminder of how far he has come, and how much adversity he has had to overcome in recent months. “The reception tonight was incredible,” he said. “When you’ve had a rough time, to feel that kind of support... it means everything. Thanks to everyone who came out.”

As the Vuelta gets underway with a flat opener suited to the sprinters, Ganna will likely have to wait for the time trials and hillier terrain to make his mark. But simply making it to the start line feels like a small victory in itself — and for one of the peloton’s most respected engines, that’s more than enough motivation to go hunting for something bigger in the weeks ahead.