Frustrated Ganna given no room on home roads: 'I scared a few people today'

Alberto Bettiol won his second ever Giro d'Italia stage in Verbania — an extra special victory for personal reasons, he explained. But Filippo Ganna would dearly have loved to win too. With the finish in his home town, the Netcompany-INEOS rider was given no room whatsoever by the peloton. Everyone watching his every move only added to his frustration.

It was not for lack of trying. The great time trialist made repeated attempts on the flat opening kilometres — alongside Matteo Sobrero. The Lidl-Trek rider is married to Ganna's sister, and the two compatriots launched several moves together, only to be neutralised each time.

"It was beautiful to see the whole bunch on my wheel," Ganna said drily after the finish, speaking to CyclingPro.net. "Come on… I scared a few people today. We tried a couple of times, together with Matteo. That was the plan, but every time we looked back and asked for a turn, everyone stopped. We knew it could go like this."

In the end, the big engine could not fire on the day he had so hoped for. He already had a stage win in the bag from the stage ten time trial, but this one would have been something truly special. "It would have been beautiful to get a result on my own, but there we go. It was great to do this descent towards home once, when everything is closed off and looking its best."

Still, racing on home roads brought him joy too. "I saw a lot of familiar faces on the course. I don't know where they are now, but my parents are here at the finish. Hopefully I can say hello at the bus in a moment." For Bettiol, whose girlfriend lives in Verbania, the win was equally personal — something Ganna acknowledged. "Alberto won — that's wonderful for him, of course," he concluded.