Italy’s first gold medal at the Track World Championships in Shanghai came in the individual pursuit, where Jonathan Milan took the title and Filippo Ganna finished third. Milan also set a world record of 3:58.850, breaking the four-minute barrier and taking 303 thousandths of a second off his own previous mark. It was his second world title in the discipline, following his victory at the 2024 championships in Ballerup, Denmark.
Milan and Ganna’s first and third places lifted Italy to fourth in the medal table, behind Great Britain, the Netherlands and China. For the host nation, the championships mark a first: mainland China had never before staged the event. In Asia, only Maebashi, Japan, in 1990 and Hong Kong in 2017 had hosted the Track World Championships. Shanghai was awarded the 2026 edition in 2022, and Chengdu hosted the junior championships in 2024. A study commissioned by the UCI ahead of the Shanghai event projected an overall economic impact of €60 million. The new velodrome, which opened in 2023, is part of a much larger project to establish the city as a sporting capital, with an annual revenue target of €4 billion for the wider development. Recognised by the UCI as a training centre within its World Cycling Centre network, the venue also hosts events and activities throughout the year, beyond the demands of elite competition.