Filippo Ganna responds to Remco Evenepoel’s Worlds jibe: ‘I can show him the numbers’

The rivalry between Filippo Ganna and Remco Evenepoel has rarely been short on mutual respect. After Sunday’s individual time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, however, there was a little more edge to their latest exchange.

Evenepoel delivered another commanding performance to claim a fourth consecutive world title against the clock, completing the 39.2 kilometre course in 44:53.13. Ganna finished second, as he had done behind the Belgian at the Worlds in 2023 and 2024, but this time the gap was considerably larger. The Italian crossed the line 57.31 seconds down, with France’s Paul Seixas taking bronze.

After the race, Ganna insisted there had been little more he could have extracted from his performance. He said his power numbers had exceeded the team’s pre race projections and described it as possibly his best 45 minute power output ever.

Evenepoel was not entirely convinced by the explanation.

“He says it every time that he’s second or when he wins that he has his best power output,” Evenepoel told Het Laatste Nieuws when informed of Ganna’s comments. The Belgian pointed to the technical nature of the course, arguing that the numerous corners made power figures difficult to compare directly. He added that if Ganna really had produced his best 45 minute effort, he would have expected the Italian to finish closer.

Evenepoel did, however, understand Ganna’s disappointment. On a course that appeared well suited to the Italian, he had expected the gap to be considerably smaller.

“I understand Filippo’s disappointment,” Evenepoel said. “In an almost completely flat time trial like this, he undoubtedly hoped to finish closer to me. In the past, it was precisely in the corners where he gained a lot of time on me. But I’ve worked intensively on that and gained a lot of experience.”

Despite the size of his victory in Montréal, Evenepoel made clear that he was not writing Ganna off as a future rival.

“Of course I’ll go for a fifth consecutive world title in 2027, but there’s no guarantee of success,” he said. “I focus on what I do and where I can improve. It’s up to Filippo and his team to find an answer.”

Two days later, following Italy’s victory in the mixed relay team time trial, Ganna was given the chance to respond.

“I have a lot of respect for Remco, both as a person and as an athlete,” Ganna told Eurosport. “I don’t question anything. He went incredibly fast and I know that I went fast too. If he wants, we can sit down together and I’ll show him the numbers from the time trial. I have no problem showing them.”

There was no attempt from Ganna to escalate the exchange beyond that. Instead, the Italian was quick to underline the respect between the two riders.

“I’m happy for him that he won,” he added. “And I hope he has a very good race on Sunday.”

Ganna will not be there to challenge him in the elite men’s road race. The Italian said he would return home, attend the wedding of former teammate Leonardo Basso and watch the race from there.