Jonathan Milan gold and world record, bronze to Filippo Ganna: Italian feat at the Track Cycling World Championships!

A legendary Friday turns the Shanghai velodrome blue in the Track Cycling World Championships. Jonathan Milan in fact won the gold medal in the men’s individual pursuit with a performance bordering on sporting perfection. Already during the morning qualifications, the Friulian giant shattered the previous world record (which he himself set at the 2024 Ballerup World Championships in 3’59″153), stopping the clock at an incredible 3’58″850. A monstrous progression at over 60 km/h on average which projected the blue as the absolute favorite towards the final act.

In the decisive challenge for the world title, the Lidl-Trek sprinter left no chance for his Danish rival Frederik Madsen, the only other athlete capable of going under the 4-minute mark in qualifying with 3’59″979. From the first 500 meters of the final, covered with 760 thousandths of an advantage, the Italian runner dug an unbridgeable furrow: 1″050 at 1,000 meters, 1″500 at 1,500 meters and over 3″267 at 3,000 meters. The Italian ended his triumphant ride with a time of 4’00″769, trailing his opponent by more than 5 seconds (he finished at 4’06″036) and winning his second world specialty title in his career after the silver obtained with the Italian quartet.

Filippo Ganna’s comeback and Italy’s triumph over Denmark

Completing the extraordinary day of the Italian expedition led by the track sector was Filippo Ganna’s display of pride. The Piedmontese champion, who slipped to third place in the morning qualifications with a time of 4’00″976 and therefore out of the gold final, largely redeemed himself in the final for third and fourth place by beating the other Dane in the race, Rasmus Pedersen. A success that represents the perfect Italian revenge against Denmark after the team pursuit final.

The bronze final saw Filippo Ganna manage his energy with extreme intelligence. Starting slightly late in the first 1,500 meters (318 thousandths down at 2,000 metres), the Piedmontese changed pace 2,375 meters from the end, overturning the judgment of the stopwatch with a great comeback as we are now used to seeing him do. At 3,500 meters the Italian boasted a 3″072 margin over his rival, finishing the race in 4’02″275 against Rasmus Pedersen’s 4’07″291. For the champion from Verbano, this is the 16th medal of his career at the Track World Championships, a seal that confirms Italy’s total domination in the pursuit disciplines.