Will Filippo Ganna ride Tour of Flanders? That depends on his girlfriend and a 65-inch TV

Ganna had more than his fair share of bad luck during the race, but each time he managed to force his way back to the front. Several riders and sports directors had already seen just how strong he was. “If you can come back twice in that phase of the race like that, then in my opinion you deserve to win,” Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Grischa Niermann said afterwards.

He said it through gritted teeth, of course, because it was Visma’s Wout van Aert who was beaten in the final meters in Waregem by the powerful Italian from Verbania. That left Ganna as the winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen 2026, and he was understandably extremely proud afterwards.

Filippo, this has been quite the day.
“That’s one way of putting it. I hit a hole in the road and broke my front wheel. But I kept fighting, changed bikes, and then just before the Eikenberg my handlebars broke. So I had to go back to the team car for another bike change.

“Magnus Sheffield was up the road for us, so it was up to me to cover the other attacks. I found my motivation again and decided to go all the way to the finish, because that was always going to be better than sitting in the bunch. Especially with the amazing legs I had today.”

How was the cooperation with Florian Vermeersch? We didn’t actually see on the pictures how you managed to ride away from him.
“He did a very good job. Every now and then I was able to recover a little in his wheel, which was really nice, but in the end I was still able to ride away from him. That bodes well for the next races.”

You said races, plural.
'Normally my next race is Roubaix.'

Now I just talked to your team leader and he said: plans can change.
(laughs) “Then you’ll have to call my girlfriend, because she has some nice plans for Easter dinner.

“If the team asks me to ride Flanders, of course I’ll say yes.”

But what do you want?
“With Tadej, Mathieu and Wout at the start, it will be difficult to ride onto the podium. Maybe I can support Magnus Sheffield, but still finish in the top ten myself. That way I can still be valuable in the race. But if they say I’m the leader, then of course I will take on that role as well.

“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.”

What was going through your mind after the finish?
“It felt amazing, because I have more time trial wins than road race wins. To finally win in Belgium feels very special. Especially when you look at the palmarès of riders my age, the guys I just mentioned. This victory gives me confidence for what is still to come, whether that is 280 kilometres or 600 kilometres.”

Did you get a sense of revenge after San Remo, your big goal this spring, didn’t work out?
“In a way, yes. I wasn’t at my best at the start there, maybe because I hadn’t fully recovered from Tirreno-Adriatico. The legs I had on Sunday and here in Waregem felt completely different. Maybe I hit my peak form one week too late, but this victory does take away a big part of the disappointment. I think I’m allowed to drink a beer after this one.”

Did you learn anything else from In Flanders Fields?
“I think there was some miscommunication. Sam Watson told me he had good legs, and I immediately started working, while in the team car they actually wanted me to attack. I was disappointed by that, but now I’ve made up for it and I’ve learned from it.”