Tirreno-Adriatico 2023: Filippo Ganna obliterates the field to win opening day time trial

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 6 March 2023

Filippo Ganna destroyed his rivals to win the opening time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico 2023 in style.

In difficult weather conditions, with torrential rain and hail stones leaving the ground treacherous, the Italian champion annihilated any form of competition to win the day with an average speed of 55.3 kph. Sitting in the hot seat as Ganna crossed the line, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) could only admire the stunning performance as he was forced to settle for second place, 23 seconds off the time set by Ganna.

American teammate of Ganna, Magnus Sheffield spent a large portion of the day at the top of the leaderboard, simply keeping the top spot warm for the Italian, before Kämna displaced him with his solid ride.

Earlier on in proceedings, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Michael Hepburn (Jayco-AIUla) were two other notable performers, narrowly missing out on knocking Sheffield off his pedestal before Ganna dropped down the start ramp.

Once he was out on course, there was only ever going to be one winner. Ganna flew around the slippery course, setting a remarkable average speed and riding a full 2kph faster than anyone else to take his first win of the 2023 season.

On his return from injury, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) finished 49 seconds down on Ganna. Two pre-race favourites, Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen) were 51 and 52 seconds back respectively.

How it happened

Stage one’s opening time trial in Lido di Camaiore would be a short affair, at just 11.5 kilometres in length. Racing began in a torrential downpour- later turning into a brief hailstorm- a recipe for disaster in any racing scenario, let alone one against the clock.

It wasn’t long before American Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) set the fastest time that would keep him provisionally at the top of the leaderboard. Sheffield’s time of 12-59 was narrowly missed by Australian duo Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen) who were 20 and 21 seconds off the Ineos man’s time respectively.

Next of the big favourites to come in was Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) who finished 47 seconds down on his former Ineos teammate Sheffield, and it wouldn’t be long before Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) would take to the fray.

Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) was next to cross the line for the pre-race favourites, finishing with a time of 13-18 which put him just ahead of Hindley, just missing out on the best time set by Sheffield. Just before Vlasov came in, Nelson Oliveira of Movistar got the closest yet to Sheffield’s time, at 13-17.

Roglič would then finish just milliseconds off the hot seat, matching Oliveira’s time of 13-17 putting him only just in third place provisionally. At this point in the race, second to eighth place was covered by just four seconds.

Suddenly, it looked like the American’s were outracing the Australian’s as Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) set an incredible time at just 13-02. It was McNulty’s best time trial performance to date and a big statement of intent ahead of the stages to come.

Eventually, the race had a new leader in the form of German rider Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) who was three seconds faster than Sheffield at 12-56. Although with Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) still to come, only time would tell as to how long the German would hold the hot seat.

Once he was out on the course, Ganna simply blew everyone away. The Italian was ten seconds ahead of his rivals at the checkpoint, and would finish with a stunning time of 12-28 to win the day and ensure he would hold the race leader's jersey for some time to come.

Tirreno Adriatico 2023, Stage one results

1. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 12-28
2. Lennard Kamna (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe), at 28s
3. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 31s
4. Michael Hepburn (AUS) Jayco- AIUla, at 33s
5. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, at 34s
6. Thymen Arensman (NED) Ineos Grenadiers, at 39s
7. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates, at 41s
8. Andreas Leknessund (NOR) DSM, at same time
9. Phillip Casper Pedersen (DEN) Soudal Quick-Step, at 47s
10. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 48s

General classification after stage one

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Tom is a News and Features Writer at Cycling Weekly, and previously worked in communications at Oxford Brookes University. Alongside his day job, prior to starting with the team, he wrote a variety of different pieces as a contributor to a cycling website, Casquettes and Bidons, including interviews with up and coming British riders.

Back in the day, Tom spent many summers visiting family in the South of France, catching the Tour de France from the roadside wherever possible. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Tour, and he hopes to ride the white gravel roads himself in the years to come.

Away from cycling, Tom’s interests include following football and researching First World War history.

Tirreno-Adriatico 2023: Filippo Ganna obliterates the field to win opening day time trial

How it happened

Tirreno Adriatico 2023, Stage one results

General classification after stage one

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