Ganna is planning on contesting the road race and time trial, before moving on to the track for the team pursuit. 

Italian national team coach Davide Cassani said preparations for the Games would be "complicated" as a result. 

"It gets complicated," he said, as reported by Het Nieuwsblad.

"Not so much in Tokyo itself, but in the preparation.

"The team pursuit is a discipline that requires necessary training to become 'automatic'. 

"You can't race on the road for a whole season and then suddenly switch to the team pursuit.

"In the last month before Tokyo you'll have to train on the track, so it won't be easy to create a good programme towards Tokyo."

Ganna, 24, has asserted his dominance in the time trial this year, clinching the world title in Imola in September. 

He also set a course record in the Tirreno-Adriatico time trial and won four stages of the Giro d'Italia, including three time trial contests.

In the team pursuit, Ganna, Michele Scartezzini, Simone Consonni and Francesco Lamon finished with bronze at the Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin. 

Cassani revealed Ganna would not drop out of the team pursuit contest at Tokyo 2020 in favour of the time trial.

"These guys have made tremendous progress over the past four years, took bronze at the World Championships three years in a row, and now also want Olympic honours," he said. 

"That's what Filippo wants. 

"He doesn't want to abandon his teammates."

The men's road race at Tokyo 2020 is set for July 24, with the time trial scheduled for July 28. 

Heats for the men's team pursuit start on August 2, followed by the semi-finals on August 3 and the final on August 4. 

The Olympics were rescheduled to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.