Ganna powers to victory in Tirreno TT

Filippo Ganna claimed an emphatic victory on the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico by 23 seconds.

The Italian national time trial champion clocked a winning time of 12 minutes and 17 seconds in Lido di Camaiore to win in impressive fashion.

That effort moved Ganna into the early race lead, pulling on the blue jersey on the podium in the process.

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) and Johan Price-Pejtersen (Uno-X Mobility) rounded out the podium places on the day, 23 and 28 seconds back respectively.

Elsewhere Laurens De Plus got his GC campaign off to a solid start with 15th fastest time on the day, 45 seconds back on his teammate. Brandon Rivera set the 17th best time, bouncing back well from a crash at Strade Bianche.

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Filippo Ganna: "It’s a good result in the end. I’m really happy. 

"I think I did a really good TT. I really wanted it for this week and for the next month of riding. I’ve been training a lot and finally I’ve started to feel really good on the bike. 

"For sure it is much better to get a 26 second gap compared to last year where it was close. It’s really nice. Now I just want to recover well and see what will happen tomorrow on the next stage. The legs feel really good."