Filippo Ganna insists late move was not planned, but Ineos Grenadiers continue to attack Giro d'Italia

Italian time trial specialist and DS Zak Dempster reveal all after Ganna’s acceleration sparks panic amongst the sprinters for the second time in as many days

18:40, Tuesday 7th May 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

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Filippo Ganna rolled across the line in 97th place after his late attack was foiled

The 2024 Giro d’Italia is only four days old and already an Ineos Grenadiers jersey has been spotted attacking off the front of the peloton in the final kilometres of all but one stage.

It is a trend sparked by Jhonatan Narváez following the wheel of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on the opening day, continued by Geraint Thomas in the shadow of the same man on stage 3 and, just 24 hours later, Filippo Ganna decided to make his own lonesome move on the run to home in Andora.

With the fourth stage heading to what looked to be another expected bunch sprint, the two-time world time trial champion launched himself free of the peloton at the bottom of the short Capo Mele climb that preceded the finish. As he opened up and then strengthened a gap over the pack, it looked as though the Italian had pulled off a masterful coup on the Mediterranean coast.

But as he stepped off his team bus to talk to GCN and others sometime after the finish, Ganna was keen not to make a song and dance about the attack described by one reporter as “big.”

“It wasn't that big, otherwise I would have won,” responded Ganna. “The attack wasn't planned. We were thinking of doing something after the summit. Who knows, maybe if I had started a little closer to the top I would have made it.”

The nonplussed mood of the 27-year-old might not have seemed in-keeping with the excitement of the late advance, but is only natural for a rider of his calibre. In spite of Ganna’s three-and-a-half minute acceleration - which saw him average 590 watts and reach a max power of 1620 watts, according to Velon - the peloton were able to extinguish Ineos Grenadiers’ ambitions with just 500m to go.

It was Lidl-Trek’s Simone Consonni who made the bridge across to the lone attacker shortly after the Capo Mele descent had been dealt with, a turn that proved inspired just a few moments later when his teammate Jonathan Milan produced a sensational sprint to win the stage.

The irony was not lost on Ganna that two of his three teammates from the Italian team pursuit squad had been the ones to mark out his move and take advantage.

“It would have been nice to have [Francesco] Lamon too, to see what he would have done,” the Olympic hopeful quipped, insisting that no apologies were necessary from the pair and all is excused when the race is on.

Ineos Grenadiers focused on winning races: ‘Nothing fancy to it’

Victory for Lidl-Trek, then, but another day on the offensive for Ineos Grenadiers, who have been derided in some quarters for working too much in this Giro d’Italia, but so far have Thomas in second place overall, Narváez with a stage win to his name and Ganna with multiple strong performances under his belt.

All three riders were involved in Ganna’s late advance on Tuesday. Thomas let the Italian’s wheel go as he made his acceleration with 4.1km to ride and momentarily disrupted the chase that took a few seconds to gather among the peloton behind. As for Narváez, the Ecuadorian latched onto the Tudor Pro Cycling wheels immediately and ensured that Ineos Grenadiers would be well represented in either scenario.

Ganna stole a march on the peloton over the top of the Capo Mele, but was never too far from the peloton's sight

The situation was indicative of the aggressive tact of racing that the British team has brought to this year’s race.

“If you look at last year, the team rode a race really really focussed on GC and we almost won it,” sports director Zak Dempster told GCN. “To an extent now, we have just got to focus on winning bike races the best way we can with the talent we have in the team and good, solid strategy. That’s what we’re about. There’s nothing fancy to it.”

There was an optimistic mood under the Ligurian sun at the Ineos Grenadiers team bus as the riders completed their warm-downs. Thymen Arensman looked in finer spirits than throughout a disappointing opening weekend and Thomas was reunited with his wife Sara and son Macs, whilst Dempster paid tribute to the strength of their stage 4 aggressor.

“A move like Pippo just did, I don’t think there’s many human beings on this earth who can do that.”

Ganna may have only schemed his attack at the bottom of the final climb, but the opportunity to leave Thomas’ side and go in search of stage victories is one that Dempster’s team are keen on creating.

“Obviously there are some stages where you can be creative and otherwise where it just makes zero sense. I think today was a day where you could create something from, not quite nothing, but almost nothing.

“We tried to just leave the guys to follow their instincts in that situation and we make a strategy to get them in the position where you can go if they have the legs.”

Although stage 5 looks like another chance for the sprinters to share the spoils amongst themselves, Lidl-Trek and co will be sure to keep a keen eye on the attacking spirit of Ineos Grenadiers after their flying start to the Giro.

For everything you need to know about the 2024 Giro d'Italia, from the history of the race to this year's route and start list, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub.