Tirreno-Adriatico 2023: Filippo Ganna obliterates the field to win opening day time trial

Italian won the day with a stunning time of 12-28 ahead of Lennard Kämna in second

Filippo Ganna
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Filippo Ganna destroyed his rivals to win the opening time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico 2023 in style.

In difficult weather conditions, with torrential rain and hail stones leaving the ground treacherous, the Italian champion annihilated any form of competition to win the day with an average speed of 55.3 kph. Sitting in the hot seat as Ganna crossed the line, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) could only admire the stunning performance as he was forced to settle for second place, 23 seconds off the time set by Ganna. 

American teammate of Ganna, Magnus Sheffield spent a large portion of the day at the top of the leaderboard, simply keeping the top spot warm for the Italian, before Kämna displaced him with his solid ride.

Earlier on in proceedings, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Michael Hepburn (Jayco-AIUla) were two other notable performers, narrowly missing out on knocking Sheffield off his pedestal before Ganna dropped down the start ramp.

Once he was out on course, there was only ever going to be one winner. Ganna flew around the slippery course, setting a remarkable average speed and riding a full 2kph faster than anyone else to take his first win of the 2023 season.  

On his return from injury, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) finished 49 seconds down on Ganna. Two pre-race favourites, Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen) were 51 and 52 seconds back respectively.  

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