Another feat of Philip Ganna brings Italy the first gold medal at the cycling World Championships in Glasgow. The champion from Verbania has won the individual pursuit race by comeback at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, beating home idol Daniel Bigham in a breathtaking race. Completing the podium is Jonathan Milan, who beat the Portuguese Oliveira in the final for bronze. A fabulous performance for Ganna, who up to the last kilometer was behind the Briton by more than a second, but in the last 500 meters he managed to recover the disadvantage obtaining his sixth world title (the second in a row) for just 54 thousandths of a second.
“It was a wonderful battle”
“We worked hard for this result – said Ganna -. I want to congratulate my opponent, it was a wonderful battle. The process of approaching this appointment was not easy, until the end I didn’t know whether to participate or not. I spoke with the coach, Marco Villa, late into the night and in the end we made the best decision”. In the morning’s qualifying, Ganna had approached his personal limit (which is also a world record) and he had recorded the best time with 4’01″344 in the duel against Bigham, same opponent faced in the final for the gold. Among other things, a close friend of his and partner at Ineos, who also helped him a lot in conquering the hour record.
Eighth consecutive podium for “Top Ganna”
For the 27-year-old from Verbania it is theeighth consecutive podium obtained in this category in the world championship reviews. The class of 1996 obtained six gold medals (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023), one silver (2017) and one bronze (2021). A sensational performance for the blue, which left all of Italy in suspense for the entire match. At each intermediate the stopwatch has always proved Bigham right, but at the finish line the best time was that of “Top Ganna”.
Jonathan Milan also did well
Third consecutive podium also for Jonathan Milan, after the two silver medals won in 2021 and 2022. The 22-year-old from Tolmezzo dominated the match with the Portuguese Oliveira right from the start, finishing with 4’05″868 ahead of his opponent by 2’601. Also good performances by Manlio Moro and Niccolò Galli, who improved their personal bests with 4’10″460 and 4’14″830. Still on track, but in the women’s category, Rachele Barbieri finished fourth in the elimination race. The winner was the Belgian Lotte Kopecky ahead of the French Fortin and the American Valente.