BinckBank Tour: Ganna wins stage 6 time trial

Image 1 of 15

Filippo Ganna (Team Ineos) won the BinckBank Tour's 8.4km time trial around Den Haag in the Netherlands on Saturday as Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) extended his overall race lead before Sunday's final stage on the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

Ganna is the current Italian national time trial champion and used his power and bike skills on the city centre circuit to set a time of 9:16. Fellow Italian rouleur Eduardo Affini (Mitchelton-Scott) was five seconds slower, with Netherlands national time trial champion Jos Van Emden (Jumbo-Visma) third at eight seconds.

It was Ganna's third time trial win of the 2019 season after success at the Tour de Provence and the Italian national time trial championships.

"It was my first victory in the Italian national jersey and I was very happy with my performance and my time, too," Ganna said.

"I'm feeling better after a small crash two days ago and I feel better, luckily I didn't do too much damage.

"I really wanted this win. It's great it happened. I saved energy in the last few days and so was fresh today. The wind wasn't too strong and so I was able to produce my best ride."

Wellens started last in the green and white leader's jersey and finished 20 seconds slower than Ganna. However he extended his overall lead to eight seconds on Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb), with Laurens De Plus (Jumbo-Visma) now third overall at 12 seconds.

Sunday's 178km final stage includes three hilly circuits around the Muur van Geraardsbergen, with six sectors of cobbles and 12 other Flemish climb before the final ramp to the finish.

"I took four seconds out of the guy in second place but Laurens (De Plus) rode a super time trial and took a little time back but I am satisfied," Wellens said.

"Though I don't really feel comfortable with such a small lead. It's a very tough stage, especially with the rain that is forecast. I have to count on good legs and even more on a good team, hopefully that will be enough."

An intense 8.4km in the saddle

The time trial was a battle between the pure specialists who started early in the afternoon and the overall contenders who last off. Van Emden was the local hero in the Netherlands national champion's jersey and got a cheer when he set the fastest time of 9:24. However he was soon bettered by Ganna, who bettered his time by eight seconds.

The 23-year-old Affini came in soon after and was close to his compatriot but was timed five seconds slower. The two young Italians were helped by the weather, which worsened as the stage went on, with the wind rising and a few drops of rain making it risky on the many corners.

The overall contenders were fighting for the race lead but did not want to take excessive risks.

Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) was only fourth fastest at 11 seconds and Greg van Avermaet (CCC Team) was also off the pace, losing a further five seconds to Wellens.

The 20-year-old Hirschi continued to impress, despite losing four seconds to Wellens, as did De Plus, who gained four seconds on his rival Belgian and moved up to just 12 seconds back overall. Everyone else is over 40 seconds behind, making this year's Binckbank Tour a three-way race come the final battle on the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

Full Results