Somewhere along the way, Filippo Ganna and the Ineos Grenadiers decided that being a two-time world champion in the time trial might translate to success in the Cobbled Classics. It would take some time for that theory to be proven correct.
On Wednesday at Dwars door Vlaanderen, persistence paid off for the 29-year-old Italian, who has tried again and again to secure that very first one-day victory over the past few years. Indeed, persistence paid off right up into the finale, where Ganna came back from a pair of mechanicals and then fired off one attempt after another to catch lone leader Wout van Aert. With 100 meters to go, Ganna finally surged past the Belgian to take a dramatic win in what marked the fastest ever edition of the race.
It was his first ever pro win in a one-day race of any kind, let alone at the WorldTour level.
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