Pre-race favourite Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) powered to victory on stage one of the Tirreno-Adriatico, beating all against the clock.
His time of 12.17 was head and shoulders above the competition in the 11.5km time trial, based on the Tuscan resort of Lido di Camaiore near Pisa.
For some while the hot seat was occupied by Mathieu van der Poel's Danish Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate Johan Price-Pejtersen. The former Under-23 time trial world champion started 19th, perhaps sent out as an early scout by his team leader, set an impressive time of 12.45 for the flat 11.5km course.
The Dane's stranglehold was not broken until the big favourites began coming in, with Juan Ayuso (UAE-Team Emirates) – the 12th-last rider off – turned up with 12.40.
Much fancied Ganna, who started third-last, was off the mark by just two seconds at the first time check. But riding negative splits is something he excels at and so it proved again, and the Italian put a considerable amount of clear air between Ayuso's time and his own winning 12.17.
"After nine years of riding Tirreno Adriatico, I have a little bit of experience," Ganna said afterwards. "Towards the end, a bit of emotion also helped me push harder and beat such a strong rider like Juan Ayuso who won here last year."
The Italian added: "I've left a difficult 2024 behind me."
His win at Lido di Camaiore was Ganna's 27th career time trial victory (of a total 34 wins) and he will consider it a generous payback for the same stage last year, where he lost out to Ayuso on a near-identical parcours by a single second.
It also marks a welcome early winning start for the Italian – last year he did not open his account till mid-May.
The Italian race continues tomorrow with the 192km second stage, from Camaiore to Follonica. It features one smaller classified climb mid-way through what looks like a largely flat day, with a bunch sprint or perhaps a wild-card breakaway looking to be on the cards.
Results
Tirreno-Adriatico, stage one (Lido di Camaiore > Lido di Camaiore, 11.5km)
1. Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, 11.5km in 12.17
2. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE-Team Emirates-XRG, at 23sec
3. Johan Price-Pejtersen (Den) Alpecin-Deceuninck, at 28sec
4. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, at 29sec
5. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek, at 31sec
6. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, at 34sec
7. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Soudal-Quick Step, at 36sec
8. Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, at 37sec
9. Isaac Del Toro (Ita) UAE-Team Emirates-XRG, at 38sec
10. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, at 41sec
General Classification after Stage 1
1. Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, 11.5km in 12.17
2. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE-Team Emirates-XRG, at 23sec
3. Johan Price-Pejtersen (Den) Alpecin-Deceuninck, at 28sec
4. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, at 29sec
5. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek, at 31sec
6. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, at 34sec
7. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Soudal-Quick Step, at 36sec
8. Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, at 37sec
9. Isaac Del Toro (Ita) UAE-Team Emirates-XRG, at 38sec
10. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, at 41sec
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