Italian Filippo Ganna attacked the time record in Switzerland

Filippo Ganna attacks this Saturday (8:00 pm) at Switzerland the time record held, strangely, by one of its engineers. A disappointment could be seen as a setback for the Italian rider, who has not been at his best this season.

On August 19, in the middle of a scorching summer, Dan Bighamformer track cyclist turned performance engineer for Ineos-GrenadierGanna’s team, caused a sensation by covering 55.548 kilometers in one hour at the velodrome in Grangesthus surpassing the record held by Victor Campenaerts since April 2019.

An incredible feat for the 31-year-old Briton, completely unknown outside the velodromes, who was initially only supposed to collect information before the Ganna attempt.

Ganna will compete on the same track and ride the same bike, custom-built by Pinarello with a 3D-printed frame that uses biomimicry to increase its aerodynamic performance with reliefs inspired by whale fins.

Ganna, 26, is a two-time world time trial champion (2020, 2021), a quadruple world champion in individual pursuit (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020) and an Olympic champion in team pursuit (2021).

“It will take 60 minutes and maybe after 36 minutes I want to die!” Ganna exclaimed in his press conference, knowing that he suffered a lot on the bike.

“I will have to make the greatest effort of my life,” he insisted in a videoconference where he confessed his “dream” to beat the old record of Chris Boardman (56,375 kms), erased from the statistics after the regulation change.

In Italy there was some controversy about the date chosen for his attempt. Initially planned for the month of August, Ganna, tired of Tour de Franceit was postponed to October 8, which coincided with Tour of Lombardy, the last great classic of the season. “An inappropriate opportunity,” complained RCS Sport, organizer of the Lombard race, who asked Ganna, in vain, to find another date.

“Ganna should have waited until the end of the World Championship on the track”, next week Saint-Quentin-en Yvelineshe said Francesco Moserthe man who in 1984 broke the record owned for 12 years eddy merckx. “There would have been no more races and his attempt would have had all the attention in the world,” Moser told Gazzetta Dello Sport.

Ineos replied that the velodrome was not available at the time and postponing the attempt after the World Track Championships was “too late for a cyclist to race the whole season”.

Waiting for 2023 was not an option either, as a rule change regarding handlebars would mean throwing away all efforts to build the bike Ganna would use. The pressure will be maximum. “He must beat his engineer’s record, otherwise it will be very difficult,” said Francesco Moser.