Tirreno-Adriatico 2023: Filippo Ganna storms to Stage 1 victory with stunning time trial, beats Lennard Kamna

Updated 06/03/2023 at 16:00 GMT

Filippo Ganna stormed to victory in the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico to win his 11th individual time trial at WorldTour level in four years. Ganna dominated the field and will wear the leader's jersey on Tuesday. Jumbo-Visma’s Primoz Roglic had a strong performance in his first race of 2023 while team-mate Wout van Aert also made his first road appearance of the season.

Stage 1 highlights: Ganna destroys rivals to win time trial

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) blitzed the field with a dominant display in the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

Ganna was one of the last riders to leave the starting ramp and was in excellent form, underling his status as the best time trialist in cycling by beating Lennard Kamna (Bora–Hansgrohe) by 28 seconds. Considering the very straight, flat course in Lido di Camaiore was just 11.5km long, it was a big deficit to the rest of the field.

“We did an amazing performance today,” said Ganna. “I’m really happy with the team. After Strade Bianche with Tom [Pidcock], we continued in a good shape all together.

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“I just think to ride as fast as possible. Two days ago I didn’t know what my performance could be but I believe I did the maximum possible for me and my Italian guys.

“I’ve had many, many podiums so the victory is important for me. I think for tomorrow and the Classics it gives me a special motivation in my head.”

Heavy rain, and hail at times, meant the conditions got faster towards the end of the day, although it did not stop Ineos’ Magnus Sheffield from initially storming into first place, before dropping to third when Ganna and Kamna came across the line.

Michael Hepburn (Jayco AlUla) was fourth, just two seconds shy of the top three, with Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) fifth and Thymen Arensman, another Ineos flyer, sixth.

Primoz Roglic was joint 12th on his first race of 2023, having had shoulder surgery at the end of last year, so it was a strong performance from the Jumbo-Visma rider - especially given the torrential rain that hampered the early riders.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) was 14th, Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) was 17th, while Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) appeared to not be going for an all-out effort as they were 45th and 70th respectively.

Tuesday's stage is one for the sprinters where Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) will be among the leading contenders.

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