‘Maybe I rode my best 45 minutes ever’ - Ganna left searching for answers after Evenepoel dominance

Ganna recovered from a surprisingly slow opening to claim silver, but was left with few explanations for the gap to a rampant Evenepoel, who secured a record fourth consecutive rainbow jersey in the discipline.

The Italian was only tenth through the first intermediate checkpoint, 22 seconds behind Evenepoel, and initially faced a battle simply to get himself back into podium contention.

That quickly changed as Ganna began clawing back places through the second half of the course. There was little he could do about the rainbow jersey, however, with Evenepoel continuing to extend his advantage and eventually beating Ganna by 57 seconds.

Ganna finished 16 seconds ahead of bronze medallist Paul Seixas, but after the race admitted he could find little fault with his own performance.

“Happy,” Ganna told CyclingProNet when asked what his feelings were after securing the silver medal for his third consecutive appearance in the event.

“Today I did the maximum effort I could. Maybe something more than what I could do. So I’m proper empty, also with the numbers. I do everything well, so I don’t know where we lost the timing.

“But for sure, from the point of view of the body, physically, whatever, I did everything well. I can’t recognise anything.”

At the press conference after the race, in quotes collected by In de Leiderstrui, Ganna later put his performance into perspective with the numbers. His power output had exceeded the projections made before the race, while his finishing time was also faster than the target set by his team.

“I think I did everything well myself. My power numbers were very high compared with the predictions and my time was faster than the team’s calculations,” Ganna said.

“I think I may have ridden my best 45 minute values ever.”

That left the Italian searching elsewhere for an explanation as to how Evenepoel could still finish almost a minute ahead.

“Maybe it was the equipment, my position on the bike, or maybe I simply wasn’t at the same level as him today,” he said. “But I gave everything for this race. I have no regrets when I look at my own performance and what I put on the road today.”

Ganna also rejected the suggestion that his slower opening section had been part of a pacing strategy.

“I tried to ride as fast as possible from the start,” he said at the press conference. “People watching from the side may have thought I was taking it easier in the first part, but I was riding exactly the power I was supposed to ride.

The course itself received a more critical assessment from the Italian. Ganna felt the quality of some of the roads in Montréal fell below what he would expect from a World Championships time trial.

“I don’t think the road was optimal. In my opinion, maybe this wasn’t a course worthy of a World Championships, although in the end it was the same for everyone,” he said.

“A slightly different course might have been more enjoyable for everyone, but everyone had the same route, so we had to deal with the course that was there.”

The Italian contrasted some of the rougher city roads with the section around Montréal’s Formula 1 circuit, where he described the asphalt as “perfect”.

Evenepoel’s victory moved him level with Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin on four elite men’s world time trial titles, while making him the first man to win the rainbow jersey four years in succession.

It also extended Evenepoel’s run of victories over Ganna in their recent time trial meetings, but the Italian remains determined to add another world title to those he won in 2020 and 2021.

“I think we are every time close to knock the door,” Ganna said. “Maybe one day it comes back to open it again, and I can take the rainbow jersey.”

There will be little time for Ganna to dwell on Montréal. His season began in the opening months of the year and will continue into October, with another race in Italy followed by the Track World Championships in Shanghai.

After that, one target in particular is keeping him motivated.

“My biggest goal of the whole year is the holiday in the Maldives,” Ganna said at the press conference. “That’s my main goal for the end of the year. As soon as I cross the finish line in my last track race, I can finally say the season is over.”