Italy is targeting Vuelta climbers, so Ganna will not compete for the world time trial title—for the first time in eight years.

With Giulio Ciccone and Giulio Pellizzari, Italy has two climbers who have already shown their strength in the Vuelta a España. While 21-year-old Pellizzari finished sixth in the GC, his compatriot, who is nine years his senior, performed exceptionally well in the first week of the race. Furthermore, with victories in the Tour of Burgos and the Clasica San Sebastian, and a second-place finish in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he demonstrated himself to be extremely well-suited to the World Championship course.

The pair will receive further support from Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Fausto Masnada, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana), Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), and Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). The latter will ride the time trial together with Cattaneo. This means that Edoardo Affini and Filippo Ganna will both be absent: they finished second and third in Zurich last year.

Ganna's absence is particularly notable. The INEOS Grenadiers star recently won the time trial in the Vuelta, and the last time he missed a World Championship time trial was in 2017. So far, he has won two world titles, two silver medals, and one bronze medal. In Rwanda, however, he will have to leave it to his compatriots. The reason? The course is too challenging.

The 40-kilometer time trial has more than 750 meters of elevation gain, with no fewer than four significant climbs along the way, a little too much for the 85-kilogram bear, who chose to skip it himself. “For obvious reasons, I will not be present at the World Championships, but I am preparing for the European Championships,” he explained to Tuttobiciweb. The European Championships suit him much better.

The European Championships will be held in the Ardèche region of France and feature a very hilly course for the road race. However, the time trial seems tailor-made for Ganna: 24 kilometers and 200 meters of elevation gain. It is almost entirely flat until the finish in Étoile-sur-Rhône, where the road climbs at about 5% for 1 kilometer. Given his performances in the classics earlier this year, this should not be a problem...