Finally. Italy Ends Its Mixed Relay Curse With a Dominant Win in Montreal

Italy has spent years collecting mixed relay podium hardware — silver in Wollongong, bronze in Zurich, podium after podium — without ever putting on the rainbow jersey. On a brisk Tuesday morning in Montreal, with the thermometer sitting at just 11°C and the 40.6-kilometre Mont Royal circuit glistening in autumn light, Italy finally closed the deal. The Azzurri crossed the line in 51:32.28, averaging 47.266 km/h over the course, and finished eight seconds clear of France to claim the team's first-ever Mixed Relay TTT world title.

For Filippo Ganna, the win carries a particular edge. He missed the podium in Monday's men's elite individual time trial — a race in which his enormous engine has historically made him one of the favourites — and he channelled every watt of that frustration into Tuesday's relay. Mission accomplished, with interest.

How Italy Built the Lead

The format of the event is simple in concept, brutal in execution: three men ride the first 20.3-kilometre lap of the circuit, hand off to three women, who ride the same loop. The clock stops when the second rider from each team's women's trio crosses the line.

Ganna, Mattia Cattaneo, and Matteo Sobrero set the tone immediately. Switzerland actually led at the first checkpoint, but Stefan Küng then suffered broken handlebars early in the men's leg — a mechanical that effectively ended Swiss hopes of defending the title they had won in 2022 and 2023. Italy moved to the front by the second split and kept building. When the baton passed to the women, the Italians held an 11.30-second advantage over France and 12.21 seconds over defending champions Australia.

Ganna, Cattaneo, and Sobrero completed their men's half in 24:23.86 — the fastest men's section of any podium nation on the day.

The Women's Leg: Longo Borghini Delivers

With Vittoria Guazzini, Monica Trinca Colonel, and Elisa Longo Borghini taking over, Italy didn't just protect the lead — they extended it. By the fourth checkpoint, Italy's cushion over Australia had grown to 13.83 seconds. At the final intermediate split before the finish, they led France by 16.18 seconds.

France were not done. Their women's trio mounted a strong charge over the closing kilometres, cutting into Italy's lead with every pedal stroke. But the finish line arrived eight seconds too soon for the French, who took silver. Switzerland, despite a remarkable ride from newly crowned women's elite ITT world champion Marlen Reusser, could only recover to bronze after Küng's early drama left them 35 seconds in deficit at the changeover.

Defending champions Australia finished fourth, some 40 seconds off the winning time.

History and the Weight of Almost

Italy's victory is the culmination of a long chase. Before Tuesday, the nation had accumulated one silver and two bronze medals in the mixed relay — always threatening, never converting. The six riders who crossed the finish line as world champions included four who had never worn a rainbow jersey before.

For Elisa Longo Borghini, in particular, the moment was significant. Despite a career decorated with Tour of Flanders wins, a Paris-Roubaix title, multiple Giro d'Italia general classifications, and a stack of Italian national championships, a world championship rainbow jersey — of any stripe — had eluded her until Tuesday. She is now targeting a second rainbow jersey when the women's elite road race runs on Saturday over the same Mont Royal circuit, a course that suits her all-around climbing and power profile.

Ganna, meanwhile, celebrated his second world title in the event — having won the men's elite ITT back-to-back in 2020 and 2021 — and his first in the mixed relay format.

The Numbers Behind the Win

• Winning time: 51:32.28
• Average speed: 47.266 km/h
• Course distance: 40.6 km (two laps of 20.3 km)
• Winning margin over France (silver): 8 seconds
• Margin over Switzerland (bronze): 19 seconds
• Men's leg handover position: 1st, 11.30 sec ahead of France
• Race-day temperature: 11°C

The gap of eight seconds between gold and silver underlines just how tight this event always is. Over 40.6 kilometres, that equates to roughly 95 metres at the winning speed — the length of about six road bikes parked end to end.

What This Means for Your Riding

The mixed relay TTT is one of the purest demonstrations of team time trialling: no domestiques, no sheltering in a bunch, just shared turns at the front and precise pacing judgment. The lesson Italy delivered Tuesday is one that applies directly to any group ride or club TT effort — tempo consistency beats early heroics. Ganna and company resisted the urge to blow the doors off in the opening kilometres when Switzerland briefly led, stayed controlled through the technical sections of the Mont Royal circuit, and reaped the reward in the final split.

With the elite road races still to come later this week — the women's race on Saturday and the men's on Sunday — Italy now rides into the weekend with confidence, momentum, and a fresh set of rainbow stripes to inspire them.