Filippo Ganna is one of the breakout stars of the COVID19-inspired 2020 season and heads into 2021 with higher expectations than ever before, not to mention a strong road and track showing at the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed until August.

However, his national team coach Davide Cassani said that preparing for the two-faced attack in Tokyo is a "complex" process, and the world champion in time trial and individual pursuit will need to prepare for time trial and team pursuit, as well as road racing in He said he had to balance his domestique duties.

Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab), Cassani said Ganna has made great progress in 2020 and established herself as one of the top triallists in the world.

Not only did he win the time trial world title with a dominant performance in his home race in Imola, but he also set a course record in the Tirreno-Adriatico time trial and won four stages at the Giro d'Italia, including three overall TT wins.

He also won the bronze medal in the World Championships Team Pursuit with teammates Michele Scartezzini, Simone Consonni, and Francesco Ramon.

"Filippo has made a big leap forward," Cassani told Het Nieuwsblad. 'He will be a medal contender in the individual time trial next summer in Tokyo.'

"The idea of going for Team Pursuit remains the same. Filippo is part of a project started four years ago by track team coach Marco Villa. The project will not be abandoned just because Filippo suddenly gets a chance as a time trial rider."

"They have grown tremendously over the last four years, winning bronze medals at the World Championships three years in a row. That's what Filippo wants. He doesn't want to leave his teammates behind."

Ganna is one of the world's top individual Pursuiters and has his sights set on a 4-minute record in the future, but in Tokyo he will be limited to Team Pursuit.

Nevertheless, the team competition starts five days after the road time trial, and TT participants must start the road race four days earlier.

"It's complicated. Not so much Tokyo itself, but the preparation," said Cassani. Team Pursuit is a discipline that requires training to become "automatic." Team Pursuit is a discipline that requires the training necessary to become "automatic."

"It is not easy to make a good program for Tokyo because we have to train on the track for the last month before Tokyo. I will consult with Ineos soon."

"I have no problem (competing in road races). At the Giro d'Italia, Filippo proved that he has the substance to compete in the middle and mountainous regions. Moreover, he is allowed to limit himself to a domestique role in road races."

"He is a good athlete.

Cassani said he is more concerned about the time trial course: the 44-km race will consist of two laps around the circuit centered at Fuji Speedway.

The route looks considerably tougher than the time trial, which Gana excelled at in 2020, and is theoretically more suitable for riders lighter than Gana, who is 1.93 meters tall and weighs over 80 kg.

"More worrisome is the time trial course. It's much harder than the hilly TT to Valdobbiadene in the Giro."

"It's a shame about Evenpole's gold medal and Ganna's silver, but I'm going for gold because I'm going."