Ineos Grenadiers superstar Filippo Ganna has a golden dream for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and is willing to postpone other ambitions such as the Tour de France in pursuit of that goal.
Cycling and the search for Gold
Ganna intends to defend his gold medal with Italy in the team pursuit event at the velodrome in Paris and hopes to win another gold in the Time Trial. “Two diamonds, that’s the dream”, revealed Ganna to the Velo portal.
“Definitely two medals”, added the cyclist, who took home Olympic gold in the team pursuit event at the 2021 Tokyo Games, but finished fifth in the Time Trial on a track that was not ideal for him. However, he was able to win the world Time Trial title in Bruges in the same year.
The Path to the Top
For the 2024 Games, Ganna is fully committed to the competition, to the point of giving up the historic start of the Tour, in Florence.
“It will be a shame to miss the Tour de France in Italy this year, but the Olympics are the Olympics,” Ganna insisted.
“With the big goals of the Olympics, I want to try to win the Giro again to get a big morale boost before Paris.”
The Double-Gold Plan
Ganna is competing this weekend in Australia and will stay in the land of kangaroos for a track event before returning to Europe. Competing comfortably in Australia, Ganna sees the warm weather and relaxed competition as an ideal way to start the 2024 season, which will be full of pressure and expectations.
“I took six weeks off the bike this (European) winter,” admitted Ganna. “Now is the time to rebuild the foundation for this summer’s biggest goals.” For Ganna, it’s about getting the most out of your body, whether on the track, in the classics or in the grand tours.
“Suffering is the same, whether it’s one hour, six hours or four minutes, in the end you are suffering,” Ganna reflected. “You try not to lose your energy or concentration and believe in yourself. You only have one life, so you try to do your best in each race”, concluded Filippo Ganna.