Filippo Ganna won the Italian title in the opening time trial of the Tour de France in Copenhagen on Wednesday afternoon. Filippo Ganna raced through the 35.6 km course in Friuli at 53 km/h, 36 seconds ahead of Mattia Cattaneo (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl).

"It was a good confirmation for the Tour," Ganna told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I suffered a little bit with the heat and the humidity. It was a bit of a struggle and I didn't find the right spots. But that was to be expected.

The time trial ended on the uncovered course at San Giovanni al Natissone, where Miguel Indurain first tested his Pinarello Espada monocoque frame in 1994. For Ganna, Wednesday's event was his first opportunity to compete on the latest version of Pinarello's Bolide time trial bike.

"We have tried 90% of the new material, but we still have the last 10% to go in Copenhagen," said Ganna, who will join Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), and Stefan Kühn (Groupama-FDJ) in the first Danish competing for the yellow jersey. Ganna won the Criterium du Dauphiné this month, beating Van Aert in the 31km time trial to La Batie d'Orphe.

"The three-color jersey is very important, but I need to give 110% for the yellow jersey. The conditions were not so good this time around, so we need to fine-tune in the next few days. I want to be fresh for the start like I have been for the last two Giro's."

The time trial world champion will miss this weekend's Italian championship road race in Puglia.

"I have to accept the internal rules," Ganna said, adding that he should be cautious on his Tour debut.

"If you look around, you know that [COVID-19] is there, but very few people wear masks. People should have more respect for athletes."

"It's a bit of an exaggeration, but before the pandemic you could race with pneumonia, but now it's called COVID-19, and even if you win a stage, like (Alexandre) Vlasov did at the Tour de Suisse, you get sent home if you have the disease.

We need to be more careful and see what happens in the next few days. The next competitor to overcome is the PCR test."