Filippo Ganna produced a blistering ride to dominate stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia, winning the race’s only individual time trial by nearly two minutes.
The Italian is widely regarded as one of the best time-triallists in the world and enjoyed a serene run to the finish line in Massa, with the pan-flat, 42km run from Viareggio perfectly tailored to his strengths.
It marked his seventh TT victory at his home Grand Tour, putting him level with the legendary Eddy Merckx.
While Ganna’s domination was expected, the major story of the day was how the TT panned out for the general classification favourites, with the gaps between many of the major favourites shrinking and setting up a closer second half to the race.
The fast, flat run along the Tuscan coastline was always going to be one for the specialists while the pure climbers were expected to haemorrhage time.
It was a huge success for Ganna’s teammate Thymen Arensman, who made it a Netcompany-Ineos one-two on the podium as he crossed the line 1’54” down on the Italian, with Frenchman Remi Cavagna of Groupama-FDJ United third, a further five seconds back.
Ganna said: “I think we did an amazing job this winter, especially with the GC riders, Thymen with the second place, it was an amazing team job.
“It’s a good victory for us here. We hope to be able to enjoy tonight and stay focused for the last 14 days. I’m really happy to finally find a good TT for me, without a climb! This was a massive goal for me.”
Race favourite Jonas Vingegaard put in a solid enough performance but was far from his best as he finished three minutes down on Ganna in 13th place.
He gained 32 seconds on Australian rival Jai Hindley and 1’22” on Felix Gall, so far his biggest challenger in the mountains, but lost a minute and six seconds to Arensman. Austrian Gall finished 4’22” down on Ganna in 33rd place.
Portugal’s Afonso Eulalio put in a heroic ride to maintain his position in the race leader’s maglia rosa, with his lead slashed from over two minutes over Vingegaard to 27 seconds.
The GC standings reshuffled as Arensman leapt up three places in the rankings to third overall, 1’57” behind Eulalio and 1’30” behind Vingegaard, with Gall dropping to fourth, 2’24” behind Eulalio and just under two minutes behind his Danish rival.
Derek Gee was the next-best-placed of the general classification riders, fifth at 2’16” behind Ganna, moving up six places to eighth overall.
The time trial also made the hierarchy within Netcompany-Ineos clearer as former Giro and Tour de France champion Egan Bernal lost further time to Vingegaard, while Arensman rode the TT of his life to throw down the gauntlet to the Dane.
Reports circulated before the stage that multiple Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe riders were taken ill, with co-leaders Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari among those affected.
Given the circumstances Pellizzari did well to limit his losses, finishing 18th, 3’18” behind Ganna, and maintaining ninth place overall, with Hindley crossing the line four places below and 13 seconds after him in Massa.
