Filippo Ganna rode to an incredible third place finish at the E3 Saxo Classic after a gutsy ride in tough conditions to seal his second podium of the week.
Following on from his heroics at Milano-Sanremo, Ganna once again powered his way into an elite group of contenders, then was able to hold his own and time trial to the finish in Harelbeke as the race began to split apart.
Brilliantly set up by his teammates, it was another superb performance to continue the Italian's recent momentum.
An early crash sent the peloton into disarray, splitting into two group as they tackled the 208km punchy race in Harelbeke.
Bob Jungels, Ben Turner, Connor Swift and Tobias Foss were ahead, while Ganna, Sam Watson and Josh Tarling worked together to close the 1:30 advantage with 140km to go.
The peloton came back together, before a flurry of attacks occurred with 100km to go. Swift and Jungels controlled the pace, with Ganna and Tarling in tow as the peloton attacked onto the Oude Kruisberg.
With 80km to go, Ben Turner accelerated hard up the Taaienberg with Tarling and Ganna hot on his wheel, before Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) countered the move. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck) was quick to get on his wheel, with Ganna chasing over the top of the climb and reaching the duo.
The three were able to bridge over to an earlier break of Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step) and Aime De Gendt (Cofidis), with Tarling riding well in the group behind.
Inside the final 40km, van der Poel rode away from the break solo, with Pedersen and then Ganna following suit on their own.
As the conditions began to worsen, Ganna gritted his teeth and continued to grow the gap on the peloton.
As van der Poel took the win, Pedersen finished solo in second, and Ganna rolled in third after a fantastic performance.
Reaction
Filippo Ganna: “It was hard to follow those guys but Mathieu won the race and he did everything right.
“I'm really happy with the performance. In the last few kilometres, I was completely in the red zone and I just was pushing and pushing to cross the line. I don’t know how to describe the pain. Just fire in the legs.
“It was a really hard race but I’m happy. The shape is there. I’m not the best rider for the steep climbs but I tried to defend myself.
“After a few kilometres, there was big crash and the group split in two. We were pushing with the team and got back in a good position. I think we did a great performance.
“We will see what can happen but for sure we stay focused now and try and do some amazing races.”