"Today was a bad day for me" - Filippo Ganna self-critical after missing out on time-trial victory to Tadej Pogacar at Giro d'Italia

Pre-stage, Filippo Ganna and Tadej Pogacar were the favourites for victory on the first individual time-trial of the 2024 Giro d'Italia. As it turned out, Pogacar narrowly took the win by just 17 seconds over the INEOS Grenadiers powerhouse.

"Today was a bad day for me, I couldn't go any faster than that," the Italian national time-trial champion reflected immediately after finishing his efforts in conversation with RAI. "We will see the values. Let's hope it goes well."

For a long while, Ganna's time looked unbeatable as rider after rider went slower, with only his INEOS Grenadiers teammates, Magnus Sheffield and Thymen Arensman even getting close. As he sat in the hotseat watching Tadej Pogacar near the finish line however, Ganna began to sense that his 7th career stage win at the Giro d'Italia may be fading as he hilariously told the video of Pogacar climbing to slow down.

“Better at the end than at the beginning. At the beginning I couldn't keep up, I was looking for the ratio," Ganna concludes the somewhat harsh self-evaluation of his performance. "I could never find the right pedalling and when the gusts of wind came, they made themselves felt."