Giro d'Italia 2024: Ganna defies Pogacar and wins individual time trial with a fabulous ride
Thomas Huber
· 18.05.2024
When Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) crossed the finish line of the 31.2 kilometre time trial on Lake Garda, his lead over the previous leader Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) was almost a minute and a half. The Italian was in a league of his own, with no other rider able to catch up. It was only when Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) rolled off the start ramp that things got exciting again: the Slovenian was just ahead of Ganna at the first of two split times. However, Pogacar then lost ground at the second split time. A ten-second gap could no longer be made up in the final stretch, meaning he was unable to mount an attack. At the finish Filippo Ganna won with a time of 35:02 minutes and an average speed of 53.4 km/h, 29 seconds ahead of Pogacar. Third place went to Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), who finished 1:07 minutes behind the day's winner.
Thomas overtakes Martinez in the standings
While Ganna and Pogacar were in a league of their own, the places behind the two top performers were much tighter. Geraint Thomas finished fourth, 1:14 minutes behind, and narrowly missed out on the podium in the time trial. However, he gained over half a minute on Daniel Felipe Martinez, who finished second overall, and is now the new runner-up in the general classification. Thymen Arensman, who came third on the day, also improved by four places in the classification and is now sixth. Ahead of stage 15, which is the queen stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024, the starting positions for some of the classification riders have changed slightly.
I really suffered today. I had to wait a long time to find out whether it would be enough today or not. It's a very emotional moment for me here in Italy of all places - Lake Garda is a second home for me. - Filippo Ganna in the winner interview
Giro d'Italia 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 14
- Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) 35:02
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +0:29
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:07
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:14
- Luke Plapp (Team Jayco-AlUla) +1:18
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:19
- Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +1:25
- Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:26
- Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) +1:28
- Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:30
The current standings in the overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 50:00:09
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +3:41
- Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +3:56
- Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +4:35
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +5:17
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) +6:30
- Filippo Zana (Team Jayco-AlUla) +7:26
- Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +7:52
- Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan) +8:40
- Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +8:56
How the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024 went
At 1.40 pm, Alan Riou (Arkea-B&B Hotels) opened the individual time trial of the 14th stage in sunny weather on Lake Garda - but another rider was the first to finish. Josef Cerny (Soudal - Quick Step) crossed the finish line after almost 37 minutes and set the first time. Shortly afterwards, it was Max Walscheid (Team Jayco-AlUla) who beat the time and ended up as the best German in 15th place.
Ganna is in a league of its own
When the Italian Edoardo Affini crossed the finish line with another best time, the big favourite to win the day started his time trial. From then on, all eyes were on Filippo Ganna - and he delivered. At the second intermediate time he already had a lead of 59 seconds over Tobias Foss' best time, and by the finish it was almost a minute and a half. From then on, no rider came close to the time of the hour world record holder for a long time.
Sheffield falls after a promising start
Ganna's team-mate Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) made a strong start and was just behind Ganna in the time trials for a long time. However, the US-American then slipped on a right-hand bend, crashed and had to bury his hopes of a podium finish after a promising start.
Then it was the turn of the classification riders. Thymen Arensman kicked things off with a strong race, finishing in third place on the podium. The prominent competition around Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) was no match for the Dutchman, who made up ground in the overall classification. Geraint Thomas, like the entire Ineos team, also showed good form on the day and stormed past Daniel Felipe Martinez to second place in the classification with a high gear and powerful kicks.
Pogacar with a clear lead in the overall standings
As the overall leader, Tadej Pogacar was the last to take to the track near Lake Garda. In the end, it wasn't quite enough for the Slovenian to take the day's victory, which was claimed by Filippo Ganna - Pogacar finished second. However, he extended his lead in the overall classification. Pogacar holds all the trump cards ahead of the queen stage, while Bora-Hansgrohe will have to come up with something if they want to get Martinez back into second place.
