Filippo Ganna and Edoardo Affini stood on either side of Remco Evenpole (Belgium) on the elite men's time trial podium at the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich. Both Italians smiled, but their emotions were in stark contrast.

For Affini, it was another great performance, ten days after winning the time trial at the EUC European Championships. For Ganna, it was his second consecutive silver medal after his Belgian rival.

“Let's have a beer to celebrate this performance. Filippo is not happy with his performance, but that is normal. He will drink to forget, but I will drink to celebrate,” Affini said at a press conference afterwards.

Ganna struggled to get his glass half full. [The 46.1-km Zurich course was less suitable for the course than Glasgow in 2023, and he missed the rainbow jersey by 12.28 seconds.

Ganna lost a few seconds to Evenepoel on the early flat roads, a few more seconds on the climbs, and especially on the fast descent to the Lake Zurich shore, but pulled back 13 seconds on the flat roads to the finish.

Evenepoel admitted that had the time trial been 5 km, he would have lost. Ganna was not interested in such hypotheticals.

“I would love to have another rainbow jersey on my shoulders, but Lemko is a great rider and I can only congratulate him.

“Winning another silver medal confirms that we are getting closer and closer to the title. I'm getting closer and closer, so maybe in a year or two I can win another world title. But today Lemko was better than me.”

Evenepoel likened Ganna and Affini to two giant pieces of focaccia and the Belgian to a small mozzarella cheese in the middle.

He has less power than Ganna, but definitely better aerodynamics. Climbing and descending also suited him better than Ganna.

“I think the weight made a difference,” Ganna suggested. He added: “I didn't lose much on the climbs, but I like the flat races better. My legs broke on the climbs.”

“I was struggling on the descents, so I didn't look good and didn't take any risks. I tried not to lose time on the climb, but I lost a lot on the descent. When your heart rate is high, you lose visibility and you have to slow down. I just tried not to crash on the descents.”

Ganna was not satisfied, but tried to look at his performance positively. After months of trying to peak in the time trial and team pursuit at the Paris Olympics, he fell into a mental and physical slump. Through dedication and discipline, he was able to turn the end of the season around.

“I think I'm happier than I was last year,” he explained, “because a month ago I quit the Leniwi Tour because I wasn't feeling well.

“I had to take a week off the bike so I could recharge my batteries. Today I finished 6 seconds behind Lemko, so I'm happy too.”

Ganna was especially happy to share the podium with Affini. They have often shared national team hotel rooms since the 2013 Florence World Championships.

“It's nice to see two Italian flags on the podium. I don't think anyone would have believed it a few years ago,” Ganna said.

“Edo did a great performance to win the European Championships. He is one of my best friends in the peloton."

Ganna said.

Affini was all smiles with his bronze medal at the press conference.

“I'm sad that Filippo lost by six seconds, but I'm happy,” Affini said. “It's special to be on the podium and to win a bronze medal. It's a great moment for Italian cycling. “

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