After his 2024 Olympic commitments, Filippo Ganna took a sabbatical from the track this year, and will focus solely on road events. He will return to the Tour de France in July, but first a spring awaits him on which he is counting a lot, with the declared objectives of the Milan-Sanremo and the Paris-Roubaix.
All Classicissima we have already seen him at ease both last year, when he was stopped only by a mechanical problem on the descent of the Poggio, that the previous, when he took 2nd place. At the Roubaix He returns after a good 6th place finish in 2023, when he showed he can compete with the best specialists. How did you prepare for these appointments? What has changed compared to previous winters? We talked about it with Dario Cioni, Top Ganna's coach.
Dario, how did Filippo's preparation go?
The winter went well, without any problems, just a bit of a cold. Filippo made two retirements in Gran Canaria where the weather is optimal compared to other places, and we can concentrate only on work without missing a single day. He trained well, the test results are positive., now it's just a matter of seeing if we did everything right.
Have you changed anything from last season?
Compared to last year there are no Olympics, this allowed us to take a completely different approach already in the winter. Last year started a little more calmly because the main objective was later in the season, instead this year he was able to concentrate 100% on the classics. As a closer approximation, it's more similar to 2023, and the test values are also in line with that year.
In 2024, however, despite the "slower" preparation, Filippo went very strong at Sanremo, and without that mechanical problem who knows how it would have ended.
The problem wasn't so much with the Sanremo as with the Roubaix. In the Sanremo, there was a significant effort, but only at the finish. The Roubaix, on the other hand, is a completely different story in terms of energy expenditure. and therefore of preparation.
Have you already done the route reconnaissance?
Not yet, but both are planned. After the Tirreno-Adriatico he will go to try the Sanremo and after the first block of classics we will go to the roads of Roubaix.
Sticking with the cobblestone classic, Filippo finished sixth in 2023, battling with the best for much of the race. What did he learn from that experience?
Hard to say, for sure. he learned a lot because he raced at very high levels, with the strongest in the world. I think we'll understand that day. Then in two years some materials have improved, I think this year he'll use 32mm tubeless. However, these are things that will decide after the reconnaissance.
There have been rumors circulating in recent days about Pogacar's participation in Roubaix. What's your take on it?
It would certainly be one more opponent to keep an eye on, but potentially also one more ally.
An ally?
Yes, because if someone else leaves, he can be an important extra man who helps in the pursuit.
Let's move on to Sanremo. Have you already thought about a tactic?
The key point is the beginning of the Cipressa, the most important thing, indeed fundamental, is to be in the first positions when the group takes itOtherwise, with the speeds at which that climb is done today, recovering becomes very difficult.
Will everyone in the team support Filippo or will you also have a second striker?
It depends a bit on how the race goes. It will be important to have someone who can get into certain dangerous attacks, especially if one of the other big names tries to get ahead of the game. However We are confident, Filippo is doing well as we have seen at the start of this season where he was also a bit unlucky. At the Volta ao Algarve, he finished an excellent third place in a comeback sprint; it would have taken very little to win.
