‘The bad and the beauty of team time trials, everyone is nervous’ – Ineos Grenadiers ready to embrace the stress in pursuit of back-to-back Vuelta a España stage wins

Fresh off the back of super-sub Ben Turner’s surprise win on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España, Ineos Grenadiers are eyeing more success in Wednesday’s team time trial, with former ITT world champion Filippo Ganna at the helm of their train.

Turner fought back tears and choked up after beating Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the hard-fought sprint into Voiron, but after the sparkling wine, or cava, is poured out tonight in celebration, he’ll have to refocus on contributing to Ineos’ TTT ambitions.

With the likes of Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG bringing stacked teams, Ineos aren’t overly bullish that victory is possible, but believe they can and should be in the fight, whilst also looking after Egan Bernal’s GC ambitions.

You may like

Ganna will be vital to Ineos competing, but how Ineos utilise his strength is equally as important, with the adage of only being as strong as your weakest rider– or in this case, fourth weakest, as Ganna’s coach Dario Cioni puts it – ringing true once again.

“It’s a good bonus to have someone like Pippo, but it doesn’t guarantee you a result like in the individual time trial, because you also need to manage how you use him, and you don’t want him to destroy the other part of the tea,” Cioni told Cyclingnews on Tuesday, as he was already en route to Figueres to check out the route again in preparation for Wednesday.

“Usually, you do this by increasing his workload, which means he’s probably going to go longer than the others, and you use him to slightly increase speed for the group. But that needs to be managed so that the others can cope.”

Cioni, an expert time triallist himself as a professional and now coaching one of the top racers against the clock this decade, counts himself among the few who enjoy the discipline internally in the race convoy, with stress and nerves typically at an all-time high for the riders and staff.

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!

Team time trials have a patchy history at Grand Tours, living on best in today’s calendar through the Vuelta, though, they will be back at the Tour de France next season. This does result in a lack of practice, which is why execution and strategy are highlighted even more as paramount when a TTT does roll around.

“That’s the bad thing and the beauty of the team time trials, this aspect that everyone is super nervous,” added Cioni, “because even Pippo will be nervous if he cannot contribute to the maximum for the team.

“Or even the weakest rider will be nervous, because maybe he cannot get back onto the group in the line, or he will slow the pace. Or even the middle guy, who has been put in a difficult position because he needs to absorb the workload of someone else.

“I’m quite sure that if you go on the start line, it’s difficult to find any rider who is relaxed. The same thing also applies to staff – team time trials are also one of the most stressful days for race staff.

“It requires a lot of work, a lot of preparation, a lot of stress, but if you manage to make things good, then it is very satisfying.”

Margins small in TTT

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our 2025 Vuelta a España coverage. Our team of journalists are on the ground from the Italian Gran Partida through to Madrid, bringing you breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage of the Grand Tour as it happens. Find out more.