Italian website BiciPro suggested that Filippo Ganna was just ‘one step from heaven’ with his second place at Milan-San Remo but for the Italian, the final 25km must have felt like hell as he battled to chase or stay with a rampant and aggressive Tadej Pogačar and a determined Mathieu van der Poel.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider was distanced numerous times when Pogačar attacked but used his immense power and threshold resistance from the track and time trialling to fight his way back to them.
Ganna caught them for a last time inside the final kilometre and then still had something left to finish second in the sprint in van der Poel’s slipstream.
He went deep and hurt himself time and time again. It cost him dearly but he said it was worth it.
“I tried to follow the two gods of cycling,” Ganna said post-race. “I couldn’t do anything more, those two guys have taken several years off my life.”
Pogačar set a new record time of 9:00 for the Cipressa climb according to the Velon social media platform. Ganna was just behind him.
“I think this is one of my best-ever performances. But what else can I do?” Ganna asked.
“I was up there with the world champion and the former world champion, who has won a haul of Monuments, the other one has won the Giro and Tour. I’m happy, I did my best and can’t ask for anything else.
“Some great riders need 14 years to win Milan-San Remo, I hope that doesn’t happen to me, it’d make my career far too long and too hard.
“It has been a while since there was a great Milan-San Remo like this one. I think we entertained people.”
Ganna produced a desperate pursuit of Pogačar and van der Poel, time and time again, but it was a calculated chase. It was painful but not illogical.
“I didn’t jump after them, I tried to control my efforts. I couldn’t go any harder,” Ganna explained.
“On the descent, I closed my eyes and said: ‘If I crash, I crash.’ Then with one last effort, I caught them and contested the sprint. The only regret is that I didn’t try to anticipate van der Poel’s sprint.
“I can’t be happy in defeat but to be the first loser after giving my utmost, it’s enough for me,” he concluded.
