An inside look at INEOS’s choices for Ganna: “Then Dwars door Vlaanderen automatically becomes important”

Ganna may have won, but it was far from straightforward. The rider from Verbania suffered bad luck twice on the road to Waregem, both times in the crucial hilly section. Even so, he managed to make it back for the finale, although he and sports director Ian Stannard were later fined for a sticky bottle — which, according to the organisers, was not deemed serious enough for disqualification.

Viviani was sports director in the second team car, but the double setback forced him into action as well. In that way, Ganna’s compatriot and trusted ally had not only an indirect influence on the victory, but a direct one too. And that left him satisfied.

Grischa Niermann just told us: if you have bad luck twice and can still come back to win, then you are the best.
“Exactly. If you really want something, then you have to fully commit to it.”

Why did he want this race so badly?
“Filippo had made Milan-San Remo a big goal, so when that did not go the way he had hoped, he was very disappointed. The next goal was Gent-Wevelgem (In Flanders Fields, ed.), and he wanted to show himself there as well, but again he did not get a result. So then Dwars door Vlaanderen naturally becomes a very important race.”

Is there a difference compared with the races you just mentioned?
“I think Pippo started with a completely different mentality. Of course he was unbelievably strong, and that was also what he kept saying over the radio. But from the car, it was quite a day for us as well...

He hit a hole in the road and broke his front wheel, so we had to make a bike change. When he came back, his handlebars broke. Then we needed another bike, which meant I — from car two — suddenly had to move up and deliver the third bike.”

“That is definitely a lesson for us; for our leader, we need to have two proper spare bikes in the first car. When I heard he was back at the front again, that was a real relief. On the final cobbled sector we knew he was going all in, and at that point I already felt that something special might happen. But it was close, wow... although after such a finale I can only say it was simply his day. He executed it perfectly.”

As I understand it, the plan was to skip E3 and the Tour of Flanders in favour of the races where you believed Filippo had the best chance: In Flanders Fields, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix.
“That’s right. You know, that is modern cycling. You have to think carefully about planning, recovery and the training you do between races. In the old days, you simply rode all the classics, but nowadays it does not work like that anymore.”

“From our point of view, we looked at which races he could actually win, because that was mainly what he needed: a victory in Belgium. He has already been third in E3 and second in Sanremo, but that big classics win was still missing. So at the start of the season we looked at the races in which he had the best chance.”

“At 85 kilos, he can absolutely ride a result in E3 or Flanders, but to win? That is still a huge task. And do not forget how much energy it takes, at that weight, to go so deep on those climbs over and over again. Our approach is proving itself now.”

Now that the victory is there, I can imagine Flanders suddenly becomes tempting again.
“But the plan at this moment is still simply to go for Roubaix.”

Plans can change.
“That’s true,” he laughed, “but this was the plan. It is not up to me to make that final decision. I am mainly happy that I have seen Pippo has the confidence to attack on the cobbles, although the Flemish cobbles are still very different from Roubaix. We will recon Roubaix on Thursday and then we’ll see.”

Naturally, we also asked Ganna in the press conference what his plans are for Sunday: “Then they’ll have to call my girlfriend, because she has some nice plans for Easter dinner. But if the team asks me to ride Flanders, of course I’ll say yes. On the other hand, I also have a nice 65-inch TV at home, so I can watch the Tour of Flanders perfectly well from the sofa too,” the winner laughed.