Filippo Ganna rounded out his spring racing block in Belgium with a 91st place at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Wednesday's Flemish Classic ending his spell of racing in Belgium and marking the start of his personal 'Operation Paris-Roubaix'.
While most of the cobbled Classics contenders will target Sunday's Tour of Flanders, Ganna has other goals and other plans, with the aim to be at his best on Sunday April 9 for the 'Hell of the North'.
Ganna will carry out a vital Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance ride on Friday and then return to Italy for a week of specific training. He will only return to northern France next Friday for a last spin on the cobbles before the big day on Sunday.
"I feel good, I'm relaxed and now I've only got one objective on my mind and that's Roubaix," Ganna told La Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this week.
"I want to be at my very best and do my best, so April 9 is now the only date that matters."
Ganna's classics credentials were boosted massively by his second place at Milan-San Remo and his ability to go with the attack from Tadej Pogačar on the Poggio. He, like Pogačar and Wout van Aert, could not respond to Mathieu van der Poel's blistering attack, but he was strong enough to distance them in the Via Roma finish.
Ganna won the under-23 edition of Paris-Roubaix in 2016 a few months before joining Lampre-Merida as a stagiaire and then turning professional in 2017 when the Italian team became UAE Team Emirates.
He moved to Team Sky in 2019 and began his success in time trials and on the track, though now he's keen to return to Paris-Roubaix as a contender after finishing 35th last year and twice failing to finish as a young professional.
This winter he focussed more on his road racing base over time trialling and track pursuiting, opting for a spring of Classics before turning his attention to the time trials at the Giro d'Italia.
Ganna took a number of top placings in early-season road races and then won the Tirreno-Adriatico opening time trial and kept the race leader's blue jersey for three days.
After his breakthrough ride at Milan-San Remo, he then finished tenth at the E3 Saxo Classic but crashed out of Gent-Wevelgem hurting his knee. However, his performance at Dwars door Vlaanderen indicated he has recovered and a moment of aggression on a section of cobbles with 100km to race was another sign that Ganna is on track for Paris-Roubaix.
"I've had some physiotherapy treatment and my knee is a lot better. I trained for two hours without any problems. Dwars door Vlaanderen is a test of my form for Roubaix," he said.
Ganna will enjoy a rest day with his teammates on Thursday and then travel south from Flanders to the cobbles of northern France for his reconnaissance ride on Friday.
"I'll do 160km of the Paris-Roubaix route. I'll start 20 km before the first sector of pavé and ride until the next-to-last sector. It's about studying the key sectors, the Forest of Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l'Arbre," Ganna revealed.
"My teammates who ride the Tour of Flanders will do another recon next Thursday while I'll arrive in France on Friday ready to race."
