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BERLIN, GERMANY – FEBRUARY 28: Gold medalist Filippo Ganna of Italy poses on the podium after the men’s individual pursuit final during day 3 of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships Berlin at Velodrom on February 28, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
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BERLIN, GERMANY – FEBRUARY 28: Gold medalist Filippo Ganna of Italy poses on the podium after the men’s individual pursuit final during day 3 of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships Berlin at Velodrom on February 28, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
Italian Cycling star Filippo Ganna is one of the most successful cyclists in the world. The 24-year-old has been the world champion five times. Ganna also won gold at the 2020 Olympics and holds a world record in cycling.
What Ganna has achieved to date is a dream of every cyclist around the globe. Interestingly, Ganna himself dreamt about winning before the UCI Road World Championship 2021.
Filippo Ganna defends his World Championship title
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The UCI Road World Championship 2021 is being held in Flanders, Belgium. The event started on 19th September 2021 and will end on the 26th of September 2021.
Entering the race, Ganna was the defending champion, and he successfully defeated his counterparts again. In the time trial race, Ganna completed the 43.3 km race in 47 minutes and 47.83 seconds. While also defeating the home favorite Belgium’s Wout van Aert, who finished at the second position. Wout finished the race 5.73 seconds behind the world champion.
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Italian Filippo Ganna competes in the men’s individual pursuit final at the UCI track cycling World Championship at the velodrome in Berlin on February 28, 2020. (Photo by Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
After winning the race, Filippo reflected on how he was feeling before and after the race. “For us, winning the in-house country is amazing. But today I wake up with a dream just to win, and when I start my race, I want to win and keep this jersey again, and it’s fantastic. Thank you for the guys who motivate me for improve and give this result. I am really happy.”
"I woke up this morning with a dream of winning" @GannaFilippo
Cycling´s newest World Champion shows that he is a true sportsman. Congratulations Ganna 🌈#Flanders2021 pic.twitter.com/srkWLiCSG1
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 19, 2021
Others who finished in the top 10
Van’s fellow Belgium cyclist, Remco Evenepoel, finished the race 43.4 seconds behind Filippo. While Denmark’s Kasper Asgreen finished the race at the fourth position, taking 45.64 seconds more than the world champion. At the fifth position was Switzerland’s Stefan Kueng, with +1 minute, 6.20 seconds.
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Interestingly, the four-time world championship title winner, German cyclist, Tony Martin, finished at the sixth position. Tony will retire after the world championship.
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While the women’s time trial race will be held on Monday, men will look forward to competing in other events now. The mixed team relay is scheduled for the 22nd of September. While the road race events will begin from the 24th of September 2021, Filippo will hope for more victories as he is at the peak of his performance.
Also read: How Long Does It Take to Become a Professional Cyclist?
