Giro d'Italia to start, Filippo Ganna adamant about his intentions
For the fifth time in his career, Filippo Ganna will be at the start of the Giro d’Italia: the classification ambitions are rather limited, given the characteristics of the Verbanese rider and the plans of his team, Netcompany Ineos, which will work for Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman, but there are other no less important goals, such as the long time trial from Viareggio and Massa (42 kilometers against the clock next May 19) and the arrival practically at his home, in Verbania, in the stage on Friday, May 22.
“The Giro for me is always something incredibly special, and it represents a huge source of pride for every Italian,” Ganna told his team’s official channels, two days before the Corsa Rosa’s start in Bulgaria. I’m really happy with the opportunity the individual time trial in Tuscany offers to try to win, and there’s also a stage finish near my parents’ home that will be very special.”
“We have clear ambitions for the general classification and I will give everything to support them, also taking my chances when they come,” then confirmed Ganna, who will be at the disposal of the two captains of Netcompany Ineos in the most challenging stages, with Bernal looking for a personal encore after his 2021 victory and Arensman instead wanting to return to the top positions (he was sixth in 2023 and 2024) after a disappointing 29th place finish in the 2025 edition.
For Filippo Ganna this year’s is a welcome return to the Giro d’Italia, which due to calendar requirements he skipped last year. In previous participations, the champion, nicknamed the Locomotive of Verbania, won a total of seven stages, while also accumulating five days in the pink jersey between the 2020 and 2021 editions.
Ganna, moreover, is one of only three Italians to have donned the supremacy symbol during the race since 2020: the others are Alessandro De Marchi, who ousted Ganna himself from the top position in 2021 and wore the pink for two days, and Diego Ulissi, who in 2025 won the overall lead after the Castelraimondo stage but left it already the next day on the finish line in Siena.
