Giro d’Italia 2024 Stage Report: Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) won the battle of the second Giro’24 time trial, but second placed Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) took more time over all his GC adversaries. The Slovenian champion now has a near 4 minute cushion. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) rode a solid test to jump over Daniel Felipe Martínez (BORA-hansgrohe), into second overall.
*** The full PEZ ‘Stage Report’ very soon. ***
Stage 14: Last KM
*** See the PEZ Giro d’Italia ’24 Preview Chat With Chris Horner HERE. ***
*** See the Week #2 Route Preview HERE. ***
*** You can see the PEZ ‘Giro Route Preview’ HERE. ***
*** See the PEZ ‘Favourite Riders’ choice HERE. ***
Stage winner Filippo Ganna won by 29 seconds
Filippo Ganna was the favourite to win the second time trial of the 2024 Giro d’Italia. The Italian champion won by 29 seconds over Tadej Pogačar, who added to his overall lead.
Stage 14 TT profile
On the whole, the route is level, although with several undulations. The stage crosses a few urban areas, on rolling roads with mild downhill gradients, heading towards the shores of Lake Garda. The final kilometres are mostly straight, with just a right/left bend some 300 m before the finish. The home straight (200 m) is on 6 m wide tarmac.
The first top time came form Josef Cerny (Soudal Quick-Step) – 36:58
Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) – 36:41
Last rider overall, Frenchman Alan Riou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), was the first to start the day. Czech rider Josef Cerny (Soudal Quick-Step) was also an early started and set a time to aim at. He beat Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Ryan Mullen (BORA-hansgrohe) with a time of 36:58, at an average speed of 50.64 kilometres per hour.
Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike) was the next fast man to finish – 36:32
We didn’t get a finishing time for this lady
Despite his good time, Cerny wasn’t in the hot seat for very long, because almost Max Walscheid (Jayco AlUla) came in under his time and a little later Dutchman Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek), 17 seconds faster than the Czech. Next it was the top favourites from the INEOS Grenadiers: Filippo Ganna, Tobias Foss and Magnus Sheffield who were ready to ride.
Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers) was the next leader (36:28), but not for long a Ganna was on his way
The man everyone was looking at – Filippo Ganna finished with a time of 35:02
Not long after Hoole took the lead, it was top favourite for the stage victory, Italian champion Ganna, starting his stage. At the first intermediate point after 7.8 kilometres, he was already 15 seconds faster, but the big differences were made between the second and third check points, after 23.2 kilometres. Ganna put more than a minute into the others, finishing more than a minute and 26 seconds faster than his teammate Foss, who had finished shortly before. 35:02 was the new top time at an average speed of 53.435 kilometres per hour.
Maybe not the day for Points leader Jonathan Milan (40:34)
5th place for Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), but still over a minute down on Ganna
Sheffield started his ride faster than Ganna, but due to a nasty crash, he lost time. Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), Jan Tratnik (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) were all fast, but couldn’t get within a minute of the Italian.
Had Ganna done enough?
Last man off, Tadej Pogačar was 4 seconds faster than Ganna at the first time check
It was now the turn of the top-10 GC men. Could any of them get close the Ganna’s time and could they change the overall placings? Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) in particular had a very good time. Teammate Geraint Thomas, Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R) all did well. They all finished within 20 seconds of each other, so there were no changes overall.
Not a great time by Dani Martinez – 1:45 down on Ganna at the finish
Daniel Felipe Martinez (BORA-hansgrohe) did the worst ride of the top 5, but he did limit his loss to Geraint Thomas to just under half a minute. Pogačar started his time trial fast and was ahead of Ganna at the first check point by 4 seconds. The pink jersey lost time from then on, 10 seconds at the next point and 29 seconds by the finish. This was no problem for the Slovenian as he took time on all the other GC men.
Pogačar dropped a little time in the middle of the TT – 10 seconds down on Ganna at the second time check
Stage winner, Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers): “I suffered a lot today. My specialty, which is time trialling, isn’t like Jonathan Milan’s. He suffers for 70 seconds and once he crosses the line he knows if he’s the winner or not but me… I have to wait for two hours and that’s stressful. At the end I’ve been caught by emotions because we’re in Italy and it makes the moment very intense, especially here close to the Garda lake and the Montichiari velodrome which is a second home for me. It’s nice to get my sixth time trial win at the Giro and also for the GC we’ve done well as a team today. Tomorrow will be a very intensive stage and we’ll fight during the whole last week.”
An emotional Filippo Ganna
Overall leader, KOM and 2nd on the stage, Maglia Rosa Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “Looking at Filippo Ganna’s time checks, he put a big towards the end whereas I tried to do the opposite. The first part suited me more. It was a very nice parcours. I enjoyed the beginning very much but on the second part, I just tried to maintain my power and to not kill myself. Off the bike also, I’m enjoying the atmosphere of the Giro a lot. Our morale is high. We keep ourselves motivated as a team. We’re very strong and we’re here for only one goal that everyone knows since December: to win the Giro. The final KO punch should be on Monte Grappa, which is the last brutal climb. In cycling, if you can take time like today, you do. Better be safe than sorry. Having a bigger gap before the mountains makes me more comfortable, more confident.”
Pogačar looks fresh enough to take on the tough stage 15 on Sunday
# Catch up with all the Giro news in EUROTRASH Monday. #
Giro d’Italia Stage 14 Result:
1. Filippo Ganna (Ita) INEOS Grenadiers in 35:02
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 0:29
3. Thymen Arensman (Ned) INEOS Grenadiers at 1:07
4. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 1:14
5. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla at 1:18
6. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious at 1:19
7. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at 1:25
8. Tobias Foss (Nor) INEOS Grenadiers at 1:26
9. Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates at 1:28
10. Edoardo Affini (Ita) Visma | Lease a Bike at 1:30.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 14:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 50:00:09
2. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 3:41
3. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) BORA-hansgrohe at 3:56
4. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at 4:35
5. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious at 5:17
6. Thymen Arensman (Ned) INEOS Grenadiers at 6:30
7. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco AlUla at 7:26
8. Romain Bardet (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL at 7:52
9. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan at 8:40
10. Alex Baudin (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at 8:56.
Like PEZ? Why not subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive updates and reminders on what’s cool in road cycling?
