Teams & Riders Filippo Ganna Discussion Thread

[TomLPC]

Ganna truly is the Robert Strong of this years Giro, Sky's CATASTROPHIC Plan B.

'Mr Murdoch we have reanimated the corpse of Sir Chris of Israel like you asked, but this time even more powerful and more marketable.'

Give it a year, they will have this guy front and centre on a big PR campaign, banging on about how they made special bedsheets for him and embraced novel concepts such as Having people on the side of the road handing him energy gels(tm)

 

[KZD]

He showed today that he can replicate his San Juan performances in a World Tour level.
I would prefer him to focus in the cobbled classics in the next years (besides TTs) but there is clearly some GT potential.

 

[oldcrank]

Well done Filippo, lovely to see a fully paid up member of the Pursuiters Union taking two of the first five stages in his home GT. Hopefully more to come!

 

[md1975]

He showed today that he can replicate his San Juan performances in a World Tour level.
I would prefer him to focus in the cobbled classics in the next years (besides TTs) but there is clearly some GT potential.

Some GT potential yes. We will see how it unfolds the rest of the Giro to see how much. Good showing thus far

 

[Moviestar]

He does remind me of young Indurain.

 

[SafeBet]

For anyone interested, Pippo was recently interviewed on IG and talked about his future as a GT rider.

He finished the Giro weighing 81,5 kg which is an all time low for him since turning pro and he said it'd be very hard to shed more kilos without losing strength. He's concerned that trying to become a GT rider will make him lose his elite time trialing so at the moment he doesn't think it's a viable option.

 

[Pricey_sky]

I guess the Olympics will be a big priority next year, but I hope he will start races like Roubaix as well.

 

[Netserk]

As winner of Paris-Roubaix Espoirs I hope he would rather go for the cobbles. And even with this weight he can clearly climb well enough to win a lot. I'm curious how good his sprint is?

 

[gerundium]

With his engine i'd love to see him put down 600+ Watts on the cobbles and shred the field to pieces in P-R.

 

[Bavarianrider]

If the Giro organzisers have any brain we will se two 50km flat TTs in every Giro. Ganna is a gift from heaven and if they don`t take it would simply be crazy.

 

[SafeBet]

As winner of Paris-Roubaix Espoirs I hope he would rather go for the cobbles. And even with this weight he can clearly climb well enough to win a lot. I'm curious how good his sprint is?

Absolutely no idea.

I guess the Olympics will be a big priority next year, but I hope he will start races like Roubaix as well.

Yes he has stated Olympics will be his main goal for next season (I guess both on track and ITT).
Riding a few cobble races won't do any harm to his preparation.

 

[will-10]

I suspect that at some point post-Tokyo we will see a markedly less difficult Giro with a three hefty TTs.

 

[SafeBet]

I suspect that at some point post-Tokyo we will see a markedly less difficult Giro with a three hefty TTs.

There's still that Remco dude though.

 

[matteof93]

I think that he should focus on Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Tokyo Olympics and Milano-Sanremo.
Then maybe a Tour de France when ASO decides to start with an ITT, so that he can aim for the yellow jersey at the start.
Finally, who knows...depending on the routes he could also aim for the World Champion title given his power and strength.
I am very skeptical about the possibility of becoming a GT rider...a lot to gain but also a lot to loose.

 

[Red Rick]

As winner of Paris-Roubaix Espoirs I hope he would rather go for the cobbles. And even with this weight he can clearly climb well enough to win a lot. I'm curious how good his sprint is?

His sprint is definitely the interesting question.

I just have to shake my head every time an elite non climber has to go out and say he won't in fact try to be what he's not.

 

[Valv.Piti]

If the Giro organzisers have any brain we will se two 50km flat TTs in every Giro. Ganna is a gift from heaven and if they don`t take it would simply be crazy.

I thought about that as well, would be stupid not to include at least two ITTs every year that Ganna realistically can win (that means no mountain time trials). If you're going with the +50 km stuff, you're basically putting your eggs in the GC-basket which is still too early (not that he cant win those obviously, but would make more sense just to do the stuff they did this year).

This dude can win so many stages in the Giro if the RCS wants him to. Just bait him with at least two winnable time trials and he'll basically just sweep unless Remco shows up lmao.

 

[yaco]

Preparing properly for the track would rule out the Giro and the TDF in 2021 - The Vuelta is a possibility.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

In his preparations for Tokyo he could squeeze in the earlier rumored attempt for the hour record. Given that he's clearly a better time trialist than Campenaerts and has much more track experience, he could propably beat it at sea level with climate control. Make it a dual event with Dennis and we've got ourselves a show.

 

[Red Rick]

I thought about that as well, would be stupid not to include at least two ITTs every year that Ganna realistically can win (that means no mountain time trials). If you're going with the +50 km stuff, you're basically putting your eggs in the GC-basket which is still too early (not that he cant win those obviously, but would make more sense just to do the stuff they did this year).

This dude can win so many stages in the Giro if the RCS wants him to. Just bait him with at least two winnable time trials and he'll basically just sweep unless Remco shows up lmao.

Remco attaining ever more mythical status

 

[Mayomaniac]

The "problem" im Tokyo is that only the team pursuit and not the individual one is an Olympic discipline. While Italy has a strong team they are not a favourite for gold, the third place is possible. Still, Denmark, the UK, Australia and NZ are all at a really high level.
Could he do both track and the ITT? I know that the route is on the harder side and not perfect for him, but still.

 

[Red Rick]

The "problem" im Tokyo is that only the team pursuit and not the individual one is an Olympic discipline. While Italy has a strong team they are not a favourite for gold, the third place is possible. Still, Denmark, the UK, Australia and NZ are all at a really high level.
Could he do both track and the ITT? I know that the route is on the harder side and not perfect for him, but still.

Surely Ganna has a much better shot at OG than Nibali. Yeah I'm sad too but Ganna's viabilty for the raod race shouldn't affect him for the ITT. Surely he can be of use in the early hours.

Also surely there are 3 guys that can sit in Ganna's wheel for 4km?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Also surely there are 3 guys that can sit in Ganna's wheel for 4km?

Only when he slows down. They can get a medal, but gold looks unlikely.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The "problem" im Tokyo is that only the team pursuit and not the individual one is an Olympic discipline. While Italy has a strong team they are not a favourite for gold, the third place is possible. Still, Denmark, the UK, Australia and NZ are all at a really high level.
Could he do both track and the ITT? I know that the route is on the harder side and not perfect for him, but still.

Viviani obviously takes the iTA spot in the omnium and pairs with Consonni in the madison. I guess Ganna could stand in as the derny in the keirin races and then just ride eight laps on his own to take gold.

 

[jmdirt]

My abdomen clinched when I read "Filippo Ganna positive...", I was glad that it was C19. I didn't want the rainbow stripes to be dirty so I was glad that he had a potentially deadly disease? What is wrong with me?!

I hope that he recovers quickly, and then has a nice training season!

 

[SafeBet]

Shame because his coach believed he could improve his individual pursuit world record at the EC.
Come back stronger, champion.