{"id":238041,"date":"2026-04-11T20:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T20:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/compared-to-him-im-a-goat-on-a-bike-filippo-ganna-acknowledges-his-paris-roubaix-weakness-but-throws-down-gauntlet-for-pogacar-and-van-der-poel\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T20:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T20:52:21","slug":"compared-to-him-im-a-goat-on-a-bike-filippo-ganna-acknowledges-his-paris-roubaix-weakness-but-throws-down-gauntlet-for-pogacar-and-van-der-poel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/compared-to-him-im-a-goat-on-a-bike-filippo-ganna-acknowledges-his-paris-roubaix-weakness-but-throws-down-gauntlet-for-pogacar-and-van-der-poel\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Compared to him, I&#8217;m a goat on a bike&#8217; \u2013 Filippo Ganna acknowledges his Paris-Roubaix weakness but throws down gauntlet for Poga\u010dar and Van der Poel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-95da3bfd-22a6-4dd9-9205-4812295bea64\"><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/filippo-ganna\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/filippo-ganna\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/filippo-ganna\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Filippo Ganna<\/a> ended the long wait for a one-day victory earlier this month at <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/dwars-door-vlaanderen\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/dwars-door-vlaanderen\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/dwars-door-vlaanderen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dwars door Vlaanderen<\/a>, and with it heavily boosted the belief that he could challenge for at least the podium at <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/paris-roubaix\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/paris-roubaix\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/paris-roubaix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paris-Roubaix<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, for the buoyant place that the Italian powerhouse and under-23 Paris-Roubaix champion finds himself in, he knows that watts alone won&#8217;t be enough to see off <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/mathieu-van-der-poel\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/mathieu-van-der-poel\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/mathieu-van-der-poel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mathieu van der Poel<\/a> (Alpecin-Premier Tech) or <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/tadej-pogacar\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/tadej-pogacar\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/tadej-pogacar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-95da3bfd-22a6-4dd9-9205-4812295bea64-2\">The <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/road\/teams\/uci-worldtour\/2026\/ineos-grenadiers\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/road\/teams\/uci-worldtour\/2026\/ineos-grenadiers\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/road\/teams\/uci-worldtour\/2026\/ineos-grenadiers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ineos Grenadiers<\/a> man lines up for his sixth Paris-Roubaix, knowing that despite his recent form, it doesn&#8217;t change the direction of the spotlight that is firmly shining on Van der Poel and Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-continues-below block py-2 text-sm\">Article continues below <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"inline-block w-2.5 h-2.5 ml-2\" fill=\"currentColor\" preserveaspectratio=\"xMidYMid meet\" viewbox=\"0 0 1000 1000\"><path d=\"M1000 100L500 900 0 100h1000z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pb-0 pt-2 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 !text-base uppercase sm:text-sm font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Speaking to <em>Gazzetta dello Sport<\/em>, the 29-year-old, who was joined by teammate-turned-Director of Racing Geraint Thomas for his final reconnaissance ride over the Roubaix cobbles, said: &#8220;My job is clear, to keep up with them. Maybe I can get ahead of them or beat them in a sprint, [but] I don&#8217;t put any pressure on myself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&#8220;It&#8217;s up to them to drop me, make me suffer,&#8221; he told the Italian newspaper, pointing at Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) following their strong De Ronde outings also.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Where Ganna worries he could come unstuck, though, is in the bike handling required to conquer the cobblestones of northern France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">The Italian described riding cobbled Classics as &#8220;a suffering that can turn into a torture&#8221; before expanding on Van der Poel&#8217;s specific advantage within the Monument.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-XRqK7CQXULSgAuk4cJt6KD\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-XRqK7CQXULSgAuk4cJt6KD slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&#8220;Van der Poel is a master of cyclo-cross; he can find those 10 centimetres of roadside access without cobblestones, and he&#8217;s able to stay balanced and ride through them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&#8220;Compared to him, I&#8217;m a goat on a bike,&#8221; Ganna joked, before adding that attempting to copy Van der Poel&#8217;s skills could end badly. &#8220;If I do something like that, I&#8217;ll find myself in the ditch.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Ganna returned to Italy after his Dwars door Vlaanderen victory to train and enjoy Easter with his family. Speaking with <em>Cyclingnews<\/em> in Compiegne, Ineos sports director Ian Stannard said: &#8220;He&#8217;s been having some good training sessions at home. There&#8217;s a good atmosphere with him, and good motivation too. He&#8217;s ready to go.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">The Italian, whose best finish at the Hell of the North was sixth in 2023, arrived back in France yesterday, with hopefully &#8220;the best legs of the year&#8221; in his suitcase.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b0f0b016-4672-4e71-abcc-4e4b331fa4e0\"><em><strong>Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We&#8217;ll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. <\/strong><\/em><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/sub24\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=SC26\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/sub24\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=SC26\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/sub24\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=SC26\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><em><strong>Find out more.<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/teams-riders\/compared-to-him-im-a-goat-on-a-bike-filippo-ganna-acknowledges-his-paris-roubaix-weakness-but-throws-down-gauntlet-for-pogacar-and-van-der-poel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Filippo Ganna ended the long wait for a one-day victory earlier this month at Dwars door Vlaanderen, and with it heavily boosted the belief that he could challenge for at least the podium at Paris-Roubaix. However, for the buoyant place that the Italian powerhouse and under-23 Paris-Roubaix champion finds himself in, he knows that watts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":238042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}