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Worlds Race Report: Filippo Ganna won the World championship time trial for men in his home land of Italy. The time trial specialist was by far the fastest in the time trial of 31.7 kilometres, starting and finishing on the Imola circuit. Wout van Aert (Belgium) took the silver medal after a very strong ride in the second part of the test. Bronze for Stefan Küng (Switzerland). Previous champion, Rohan Dennis (Australia) finished fifth.
The top two – Ganna and Van Aert
The strong wind played a major role in the first part of the race. The wind was mainly in the riders face, after which it blew from behind all the way back to the Formula 1 circuit. Rain was not expected, but some drops fell early in the time trial. The first serious time was from home rider Edoardo Affini with 37:25, which beat Luke Durbridge, Maximilian Walscheid, Jos van Emden and Benjamin Thomas.
Course map and profile
Early leader – Affini
Geraint Thomas set a fast time at the 14.9 kilometre point, 25 seconds faster than Affini. The Briton continued that effort and managed to finish 54 seconds better than the Italian’s time at the finish. 36:31 was the new target time for the big hitters.
Australia’s Luke Durbridge
At the intermediate time-check, Thomas’s 18:41 turned out not to be good enough. Filippo Ganna flew in the first section, 35 seconds faster than Thomas’s time. He also beat Küng, who was fourth at the intermediate check, Dumoulin in fifth, Van Aert sixth and Cavagna in seventh at more than 40 seconds. Rohan Dennis, who started last, set the second fastest time, 20 seconds behind Ganna.
Tour winner, Geraint Thomas
Victor Campenaerts
The first favourite rider to go under Thomas’ time at the finish was Wout van Aert. The reigning Belgian champion put 36:20 on the score-board. Stefan Küng conceded three seconds to Van Aert. Tom Dumoulin made a mistake on a corner as he entered the circuit. He almost fell, but kept his bike up-right. As a result, he lost valuable time. The former world champion did not come close to medal with a finish time of 37:08.
Bronze for Stefan Küng
Van Aert went into the lead until Ganna came in
Meanwhile Filippo Ganna was untouchable. With a time of 35:54 he was more than 26 seconds faster than Van Aert and put himself in pole position with only Dennis out on the circuit. As it turned out the Australian was not on a winning ride. Dennis finished 39 seconds behind Ganna and had to settle for fifth place.
Dumoulin – Not as fast as he used to be
Ganna – Another young champion
Ganna, reigning World individual pursuit champion on the track, secured the World time trial title in his own country, the first Italian to be World champ in this discipline. Van Aert made his debut at the World time trial championships with silver. Behind them, Stefan Küng took the bronze and knocked Geraint Thomas off the podium.
5th place for Rohan Dennis
Top ride from the young Ganna
Victor Campenaerts was eighth. Dutch favourite Tom Dumoulin eventually finished in tenth place, just beaten by Britain’s second hope, Alex Dowsett.
2020 TT World champion, Filippo Ganna (Italy): “This is a dream for me. I am really, really happy. I got good support from the support vehicle right up to the finish and I would like to personally thank everyone from the Italian team and from INEOS Grenadiers. I have stayed up with friends over the last few days. We’ve talked about everything, but not about the World Championships and now I’m living in a dream. I can’t find words for it. I’ve already won four rainbow jerseys on the track and this is my first time trial on the road, and I’ll be celebrating with my family.”
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World Championships Men’s Time Trial Result:
1. Filippo Ganna (Italy) in 35:54
2. Wout van Aert (Belgium) at 0:26
3. Stefan Küng (Switzerland) at 0:29
4. Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) at 0:37
5. Rohan Dennis (Australia) at 0:39
6. Kasper Asgreen (Denmark) at 0:47
7. Rémi Cavagna (France) at 0:48
8. Victor Campenaerts (Belgium) at 0:52
9. Alex Dowsett (Great Britain) at 1:06
10. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) at 1:14.
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