The 2020 Giro d’Italia opened Saturday with a wild, downhill time trial. World time trial champion Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) came out guns blazing on a sparkling Pinarello Bolide, and flew down the 15.1km course at an average speed of 58.8kph / 36.5mph to take the win and the Giro’s first maglia rosa.
For his effort, Ganna used a 60-tooth carbon fiber big ring. After a short uphill, the course peaked at 312m/1,023ft, then pitched downwards to the finish in Palermo, at an elevation of 19m/62ft.
The speeds on the downhill course combined with gusting winds for a treacherous ride. Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez crashed out, Sunweb’s Chad Haga had a foot unclipped in one corner, and even former world time trial champion Dennis Rohan (Ineos Grenadiers) rode a good portion of the course on the cowhorns instead of on the aerobars for stability and safety.
Check out the details on many of the time trial bikes of the 2020 Giro d’Italia below.
60 teeth. That’s what Filippo Ganna was pushing en route to his Giro d’Italia time trial win.
Ganna has a new custom Pinarello fresh off his world championship win.
Ganna came in as the hands-down favorite, and showed the world exactly why.
Win a world title – get a custom bike.
Top Ganna, you ask? It’s a Tom Cruise movie reference, millennials.
And on Sunday, Ganna will have another color to show off: pink.
Ganna opted to forego any bottle cage and instead tucked his race transponder out of the wind on the down tube.
Remember quick releases? They are still alive and well on Mitchelton-Scott’s time trial bikes.
Mitchelton-Scott’s Plasma.
Brent Bookwalter has raced five Giros d’Italia.
While virtually everything is integrated on time trial bikes these days, computer mounts are still up to the rider and mechanic to sort out.
Electronic shifting has helped clean up frontal profiles considerably.
Jumbo-Visma has been racing rim brakes on its road bikes, and the team’s time trial bikes follow suit.
The front end of the Bianchi Aquila CV.
The UCI specifies that the saddle nose can’t be further forward than the center of the bottom bracket. Snub nose saddles are one solution to getting a forward but legal position. (The letter of the law is 5cm behind the BB, unless a more forward position is “necessary for morphological reasons.”
Matthias Brändle’s Factor SLiCK.
Factor’s front end has a lot going on, from the bayonet fork to the extension clamp.
Israel Start-Up Nation is one of the few teams on disc TT bikes.
A look at the Factor’s bayonet front end.
EF Pro Cycling got a thorough makeover for the Giro d’Italia thanks to Palace and Rapha.
Vision’s sculpted extensions.
EF Pro Cycling has a new color scheme for the Giro, but the Power2Max power meters still have the team’s primary color scheme.
EF’s Cannondale SuperSlice – just ducky.
Wax isn’t a long-term solution, but it’s fast.
The SuperSlice’s calipers aren’t hidden the way many other time trial bikes’ calipers are.
Streetwear brand Palace gave EF a makeover.
CCC rolls on Cadex, a sister brand to Giant Bicycles.
Deceuninck-Quick-Step spun up some color on its Rovals discs.
Riding for Focus is Specialized’s nonprofit for helping kids with ADHD and other issues.
