Filippo Ganna's Vuelta prep wasn’t ideal: "But with the start in Turin, I had to be there"

Ganna had an outstanding first part of the season, with podium places in Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo, and the E3 Saxo Classic. After that, the focus shifted to the Tour de France, but things went wrong on day one: Ganna suffered a concussion in a crash, and that was the end of the Tour.

“The Tour was probably the shortest race I've ever ridden. I was joking about it with my masseur a few days ago,” he said, seeing the irony in it in an interview with the Italian website Tuttobiciweb.

“It was a season that started well and has had some ups and downs so far,” said the fast rider from Verbania, whose preparation for the Tour of Spain did not go smoothly, according to him. “I really wanted to be in the Vuelta, even though there was a risk that I wouldn't be able to start,” he said.

“I had stomach and intestinal problems, but with the start in Turin, I had to be there,” said Ganna, who also saw teammate Lucas Hamilton drop out with illness. Ben Turner was flown in from the Renewi Tour as a replacement.

Egan Bernal was presented as the leader of INEOS Grenadiers, which also includes Magnus Sheffield, Michal Kwiatkowski, Brandon Rivera, Victor Langelotti, and Bob Jungels at the start.