Italian defends title by beating home favourite by 5secEvenepoel takes bronze medal, Ethan Hayter is eighthThe Italian Filippo Ganna broke Flemish hearts on the opening day of the world road race championships in the Belgian cycling heartland by taking a narrow victory in the elite men’s time trial. Ganna pushed the home favourite Wout van Aert into second by only five seconds – “A silver too many,” the Belgian said – with the youthful Flemish hope Remco Evenepoel taking the bronze medal.
The specialists in the field were favoured by a pan-flat course that began with a start ramp on the beach at Knokke-Heist on the North Sea coast, closing among the canals and ornate townhouses of Bruges. The defending champion, Ganna paced his effort to perfection over the 43.3km, setting a record speed of over 54km/h for the event, and punching the air as he crossed the finish line just over five seconds faster than Van Aert.