Filippo Ganna spent the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in the leader's jersey, defended the race leader after his time trial victory, and in the sprint finish to Sovicile, he tried to lead fellow Italian, friend, and teammate of Ineos Grenadier He tried to lead Elia Viviani, who was also a friend and teammate of Ineos Grenadier.

But he was looking further ahead, beyond the day-to-day responsibilities of stage racing.

He was thinking about how well he could hold off Remco Evenpole (Quick-Step Alfavinil) and Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) in the Tirreno-Adriatico uphill finish, and also Milan-San Remo.

Ganna is neither a Via Roma sprinter nor a puncher who jumps over the top of Poggio. But as an Italian who grew up watching Milano-Sanremo every year, he dreams of one day winning Milano-Sanremo.

"I think it's a really important race for the Italians. It's a big classic and I want to see if I can win it for Ineos Grenadier," he said cautiously on Tuesday, describing it as a team goal but putting his name on the roster for the first monument of the season.

In his career, Ganna has been able to use the immense power of the time trial to make gravity-defying efforts on the climbs. Most recently, at the Tour de la Provence and the UAE Tour, he combined the torque of time trials with the aggressiveness of racing to ride above his weight.

Ganna's impressive effort, which he said at the beginning of the year, "I have a good opportunity to show that I am not 'just' a time triallist or track rider," could one day become a GC heavyweight like Indurain or a team chaser and time trialist like Bradley Wiggins to Grand Tour, as Bradley Wiggins did. In fact, Ganna has Francesco Moser as a role model, and after Milan-San Remo, he is also targeting the cobbled classics and Paris-Roubaix.

Last year in Milano-San Remo, Ganna used his power and speed to ride at a fast tempo for most of the poggio, leaving his teammates lying in his large slipstream. His pace held off attacks by many well-known sprinters, but ended his own race.

Ineos Grenadiers and the rest of the field were unable to respond when eventual winner Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) attacked in the last 2 km for a memorable victory.

Especially in Italy, Ganna was sacrificed and used as a domestique. In response, Ganna defended his role in the race and the tactics of the British team on Instagram.

"After Tirreno - Adriatico, I suffered from the flu for the last three days. The (tactical) decisions we made in Milan - Sanremo were the result of that. So please don't play DS with all the if's and but's."

Twelve months on, the expectations are even higher. Ganna has become Italy's biggest cycling star and the favorite of Italians looking to win their country's home event in San Remo.

This year, he has not shied away from his responsibilities. In fact, he was supposed to compete in Paris-Nice as he prepares to make his Tour de France debut in July. But he chose instead to compete in Tirreno-Adriatico and enjoy the true Italian build-up to Milan-San Remo.

"My shoulders are pretty big, so I can live up to expectations," he replied when asked about his rising expectations.

But could he win Milan-San Remo?

"Nothing is impossible," he said.