Ganna disappointed, but is more than happy for mate Affini: "We grew up together"

"It's nice to be here, and I would have loved to have had the jersey wrapped around my shoulders, but it's always just Remco finishing ahead of me," Ganna said. "There's not much more to say about it. Remco is a great rider; I have his best interests at heart. I hope he can maintain this high standard of form over the next week," Ganna was referring to the road race.

"As for myself, it's silver again," he sighs. "We are close, as always. But for now, we are stuck in second place. I am proud, though, that we have two Italians on the podium here," he addresses the Edoardo Affini sitting next to him. "We certainly couldn't have imagined that a few years ago."

"Edo already won the European Championship. He's one of my best friends in the peloton. We already shared the room at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Florence, so it's fair to say we grew up together,' Ganna said. 'We have the same task for our team, riding in front of our leaders. But if we get to break away ourselves, we will always go for it. We both did a great job, and I have no regrets."

The gap with Evenepoel was small, but Ganna doesn't delude himself too much. "Right now, he is the best. Maybe he had some advantage with his weight now, but that's if. We're only six seconds off, so maybe we can do it again in one or two years. That's all I can say about that right now, really."

Ganna comes from a difficult period when he left the Renewi Tour through the back door. "I focused on myself, with the confidence of the guys around me. I gave myself courage. Now we focus on the Mixed Relay, and then I will go to Croatia for my last stage race of the season. Then, in Piedmont, I can finally start my vacation."