Filippo Ganna from Team INEOS Grenadiers has made a remarkable start to the 2025 season - even though he only has his first race on Wednesday at the Etoile de Bessèges. The Italian had already attracted attention with an exceptional training performance last Saturday. According to Strava, the 28-year-old hourly world record holder covered 140.81 kilometres with 2036 metres of elevation gain in 3:58:09 hours near Calpe in Spain (35.5 km/h average speed). In the process, the Italian secured several KOMs (King of the Mountains). The most significant of these was on the Tarbena mountain route.
Filippo Ganna dethrones Remco Evenepoel on the Tarbena Climb
Ganna only needed ten minutes and ten seconds for the 4.97 kilometre long southern ascent of the Coll de Rates with an average gradient of 5.6 percent, which means an average speed of 29.3 km/h.
The Tarbena mountain route, which is considered the lesser-known side of the famous Coll de Rates, is nevertheless a popular training venue for professional cyclists. Remco Evenepoel had previously held the record with a time of ten minutes and eleven seconds. Ganna, who according to our partner portal Procyclingstats weighs 83 kilograms at 1.93 metres tall, beat the mark set by Evenepoel, who is 22 centimetres shorter and 22 kilograms lighter, by one second, sending a clear signal to his competitors. Other prominent names such as Giulio Pellizarri, Toms Skujinš and Ilan van Wilder follow in the ranking of the fastest times on this course, but their times do not come close to the performances of Ganna and Evenepoel.
The top 10 on the Tarbena Climb
- Filippo Ganna 10:10 29.3 km/h
- Remco Evenepoel 10:11 29.3 km/h
- Giulio Pellizzari 10:25 28.6 km/h
- Matteo Scalco 10:33 28.3 km/h
- Toms Skujiņš 10:34 28.2 km/h
- Dario Gadeo 10:37 28.1 km/h
- Manuele Tarozzi 10:37 28.1 km/h
- Ilan Van Wilder 10:40 28.0 km/h
- Luca Covili 10:41 27.9 km/h
- Fabio Felline 10:43 27.8 km/h
Filippo Ganna wins another KOM
But that was not all. Ganna set further personal bests on his Saturday lap and took other KOMs. Including the one on the "Benigembla to Castells" segment. A route over 11.19 kilometres with an average gradient of 2.1 per cent, which the Italian completed in 15:31 minutes (43.3 km/h average speed). A full 1:01 minutes faster than Lennert Teugels' previous best time and 1:29 minutes faster than Evenepoel, who set his fastest time there in 2024.
Ganna has big goals for the coming season. The Italian has announced that he will concentrate fully on road cycling and put his track ambitions on hold for the time being. "I want to win as much as possible," he said in a recent interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport. His main goals include prestigious classics such as Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix. He finished second on the podium at Milan-San Remo in 2023.
Filippo Ganna 2025 racing programme
- 05.02. Etoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard
- 16.02. Figueira Champions Classic
- 22.03 Milan-San Remo
- 13.04. Paris-Roubaix
- 05.07. Tour de France
On the way to San Remo, he will have to compete with Tadej Pogačar. Incidentally, the Slovenian holds the KOM on the north side of the Coll de Rates. He took the record last December, beating Peter Øxenberg's previous record by 17 seconds and taking 12:21 minutes for the 6.43 kilometres with an average gradient of 5.5 per cent - an average of 31.2 km/h.
