The fastest ever: Filippo Ganna storms to victory in the time trial

A tricolore rocket. Filippo Ganna won the only time trial of the 2026 Giro d’Italia, the 42 km test between Viareggio and Massa. That in itself is hardly a surprise — but the manner of the victory, in a way, certainly was: more dominant than ever, more monstrous than ever. The powerhouse from Verbania put an astonishing 1’54” into second place, his teammate Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS), and 1’59” into third-placed Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ). Truly staggering gaps.

The numbers tell the story of his performance: averaging a blistering 54.921 km/h, Filippo Ganna recorded the fastest time trial ever over a course longer than 40 km, not just at the Giro d’Italia, but across the Tour de France and Vuelta a España as well. It ranks as the fifth-fastest time trial in Giro history overall, but the quickest — set by Rik Verbrugghe in 2001 at 58.8 km/h — came in a 7.6 km prologue. Quite a difference.

Ganna also reaches a milestone: 40 professional victories, with eight of them at the Giro d’Italia (seven in time trials). When it comes to races against the clock at the Corsa Rosa, only Francesco Moser has won more than him (12 victories), while today’s triumph sees Ganna draw level with a certain Eddy Merckx.

Eulálio still in pink, Vingegaard underwhelms

While the powerhouse from Netcompany INEOS was obliterating the competition, there was also a fascinating battle unfolding for the general classification and the Maglia Rosa. The big news is that, against all expectations, Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) remains at the top of the standings by 27 seconds — not because he delivered a standout performance, but because Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) failed to shine.

The Dane, who had been expected to deliver a major blow to the Giro today, could only manage 13th place, losing three minutes to Ganna, but more importantly 1’06” to Arensman, 44 seconds to an excellent Derek Gee (Lidl-Trek), and 18 seconds to Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla).

Thymen Arensman climbs into third place overall, overtaking a disastrous Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), who finished 2’28” behind the Dutchman, performing worse even than Michael Storer (+1’11” to Arensman), Giulio Pellizzari (+1’24”), and Jai Hindley (+1’37”). Among the GC contenders, only Mathys Rondel had a poorer ride than the Austrian, conceding 2’47” to Arensman.

Results

STAGE RESULT
1 – Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos) – 42 km in 45’53”, average speed 54.921 km/h
2 – Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos) – 1’54”
3 – Remi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United) – 1’59”

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious)
2 – Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 27″
3 – Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos) – 1’57”

Just seconds after crossing the finish line, stage winner Filippo Ganna said: “We did an incredible amount of work last winter to prepare for the time trials, and you can see it also from our GC riders — for example Thymen Arensman, second today just as he was at Tirreno Adriatico. It’s a great win for us today. We can enjoy this evening and then focus on the remaining stages of the Giro. I really enjoyed racing such a long time trial without any climbs. From today, a different Giro begins for Filippo. Today was a huge objective for me, but I want to try to win another stage. Maybe Friday, on my home roads.”