Italian favorite Filippo Ganna dominated the first stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico on Monday, an 11.5-kilometre time trial in Lido di Camaiore, in his country. Double world champion in the specialty, Ganna had already won last year in the initial stage of the race between the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea and those of the Adriatic Sea.
With an average speed of 55.348 km/h, the track hour record holder (56.792 km) completed the course in 12 minutes and 28 seconds, almost half a minute (28 seconds) ahead of the German Lennard Kämna (Bora- Hansgroe), and 31 seconds ahead of his Ineos teammate, the American Magnus Sheffield.
In the absence of Tadej Pogacar, who is playing Paris-Nice, the favorite is Primoz Roglic. The winner in 2019 conceded just 49 seconds to the winner of the day. His team, Jumbo, had a good performance as a letter of introduction, since the Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (tenth to 48 seconds) is well placed.
As regards the Spanish, Enric Mas saved the day by minimizing damage. With a time of 13:28 he was 11 seconds behind Roglic. Landa did not sign a good role. The Basque closed a time of 13:43. Which is three seconds less than Adam Yates, but he left 36 seconds with Arensman and 26 with Primoz Roglic.
For his part, the Belgian Wout Van Aert only finished in 45th position, 1 min 14 sec behind Ganna. A month after losing the duel between him and his best enemy Mathieu van der Poel in the CycloCross World Championship, "WVA" was eagerly awaited for his return to the road. His disappointing performance, as well as his choice to be the seventh driver to start, suggest he's not up to much effort.
