Filippo Ganna's 2026 spring was the year his Classics question finally got an answer. Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 1 went predictably (22-second ITT win, INEOS 1-2 with Arensman), and then the cobbled run-up surprised. He spent E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem as the day's most reliable rouleur engine without quite landing the move. At Dwars door Vlaanderen, the pattern finally broke his way: a double bike change inside the closing 50 km should have ended his day; instead he held position into the closing kilometre and out-sprinted Wout van Aert on the line. First major Classics win after a half-dozen spring near-misses.
At Paris-Roubaix he caught the wrong side of the Sector 12 selection but produced the late-race chase Inner Ring captured — 'thirty seconds behind and closing, towing Jordi Meeus across' — without quite bridging. At Strade he was strong but not selective on Monte Sante Marie; finished further back. The Italian's Roubaix question for 2027 ('can the diesel land the explosive selection') stays open, but the Dwars win means he no longer has to answer the Classics-win question itself. INEOS will rebuild around Pidcock's departure to Pinarello-Q36.5; Ganna's spring is the team's most reliable result. At the Giro he added another headline: a dominant win in the Stage 10 Viareggio–Massa time trial (by nearly two minutes) and a trademark power show animating the final laps of the Rome finale — the diesel still among the very best against the clock.