Filippo Ganna, hats off: “Happy with me, but Evenepoel phenomenon.”

Hats off to the great rival.

Filippo Ganna is second in the overall classification of the Giro d’Italia 2023 after the first stage, which went to Remco Evenepoel after his triumph in the individual time trial from Fossacesia Marina to Ortona. The Piedmontese rider put back a 22-second gap from the pink jersey, towards whom he has spoken words of high esteem.

“I am happy with how it went, I did everything I had to do according to plan,” Ganna explained at the end of the day. “I am satisfied, but simply Evenepoel was stronger. Compared to me and everyone else, he was a phenomenon, so hats off to him.”

“On my little computer I could see that I was going steady at 60 km/h, maybe Evanepoel saw it say 65. The fact remains that it was a very nice time trial, also in terms of the course and asphalt, more than that I could not do,” added Ganna. Who, on the possibility of attacking Evenepoel in the coming days promised, “We will talk about it time by time. Now let’s move forward thinking only about the stage that is coming.”