Vincenzo Nibali calls Froome's salbutamol verdict 'a case of double standards'
'I ও༺know I'm respected because I can turn a race upside down', Bahrain-Merida rider says





168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Vincenzo Nibali has hit out at Chris Froome and the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:WADA and UCI verdict that closed his salbutamol case, suggesting in his pre-168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Tour de France 💞press conference that double standards were used when compared to similar cases in the past.
Vincenzo Nibali: I knew I was 🍰a little bit behind coming into the 👍Dauphine
Bahrain-Me𝔍rida opt for balanced team t﷽o support Nibali's Tour de France bid
More details of Chris Froome's su𒆙ccessful salbutamol defence
Nibali hoping to repeat pe꧙rfect ride of 2014 Tour de France victory
168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Vince🦩nzo Nibali's Merida War🎀p TT - Gallery
𒆙Haussler begins Tour de France return as Nibal😼i's road captain
Nibali and Froome have clashed in the past, both in races and verbally. The Sicilian had said he respected Froome's right to race on while his salbutamol case was under consideration but his opinion has now changed dramatical𒀰ly after Froome was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Nibali revealed he was in his garage at home fixing his bike when his wife came to tell him the news that Froome had been cleared. If Froome had eventually been found guilty of doping, Nibali would have been crowned the winner of the 2017 Vuelta a Espana and might not have to face Froome at this year's Tour🌟 de France.
"We knew it could have been black or white. I could have had a Vuelta win but I didn't want to win it that way," Nibali said, calmly before �♓�his voice changed in tone and he expressed his frustration with Froome's drawn out case and the final verdict.
"I don't know why he was cleared, it's not very clear to everyone why he was cleared. We know there's🥀 a full written verdict but we've n🐟ot seen why, in detail, he was cleared," Nibali said.
"I witnessed what [Diego] Ulissi went through because we're neighb💃ours and friends. I saw it was a very difficult moment for him. I can only say that there's been a case of double standards in Froome's case."
Asked by Cyclingnews to explain what he meant, Nibali said: "Comparing it to Ulissi's case, one was banned and the other wasn't. I think the cases are the same. In fact one is worse than the other."
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buyiꦦng guides, direct to your inbox!
[The UCI issued a statement today clarifying that the case of Ulissi and compatriot Alessandro Petacchi were adjudicated under WADA standards that have since evolved, and by different agencies - Swiss Anti-ꦏDoping in the case of Ulissi and CAS for Petacchi -ed.]
Nibali can see one positive ജoutcome of the Froome case.
"I thin🌜k after this case and based on the previous cases, I think the rules will change. I really think so," he said.
Froome was booed by the partisan French crowd at the Tour de France team presentation on Thursday evening, sparkinಞg debate about if he might face similar aggression in the race.
Nibali made it clear that there's not much🐻 he and other riders can🍨 do to help Froome with potential crowd problems during the Tour de France.
"As riders, we don't feel we can do much to help him. Perhaps Chris can do something, I don't know… I d♔on't think Chris cares about his rivals. That's the way they are," Nibali said, widening his thoughts to the rest of Team Sky.
Asked by Cyclingnews if other teams behaved in a similar way, Nibali was categoꦬrical.
"It's only them," he said.
Winning the Tour made a big difference to my career and my life
During a 30-minute press conference, Nibali refuted suggestions that he needs to channel some form of inner 💝anger as inspiration to be at his best at the Tour de France.
"There's a bit of stress but that's it… maybe I'll be more angry in race,"💯 Nibali joked.
Nibali and Froome are the only previous winner of the Tour de France in this year's race. Both are 33 years old and both are multiple Grand Tour winners. There are a number of other serious contenders for overall victory but Nibali appears convinced that he can avoid the dangers of the first half of the race in northern France and then emerge in the Alps and Pyrenees. He is hoping to repeat his near-perfect race of 2014, which gave him a place in the very exclusive club of riders who have wo♚n all three Grand Tours.
"I know winning the Tour made a big difference to my career and my life. Nobody really considered me back in 2014 but that was OK, I felt🌸 good. Now it's different and people know that I can be dangerous. I know I'm respected because I can turn a race upside down. That's nice to know," Nibali said.
"This year I think my form is a𝓰gain good for the Tour. The final training camp in the🉐 Dolomites went well, we worked hard, doing the specific work that I needed to polish off my form and my weight is right. I'm ready to race.
Nibali always refuses to make predictions for major races and named Froome, Quintana and Bardet as a possible podium, excluding himself🐈 in an act of superstition.
"It's difficult to draw up a classification of the overall contender. There are a lot. There's Quintana, Landa, Valverde, Zakarin that nobody seems to be worrying ♈about, there's 𝐆Dumoulin, Yates, Porte, Bardet, Uran, Martin and there'll be a few surprises too," Nibali predicted.
"Having won the Tour gives you the experience to know how to handle things in a Grand Tour &nd𓆏ash; Quintana has never won the Tour but heജ knows what to do. Knowing how to win the Tour makes a difference for sure, it's about managing the team and knowing how to use them."
N🐭ibali has a simple race strategy, letting his ꩲteam staff deal with the details on a daily basis.
"You need to divide a 𓃲Grand Tour into weeks," he exp🍰lains.
"You see how it goes in this first week, review things, then go into the mountains and decide how to take on your rivals💃. The final week iღs about managing your energy to see if you can attack or if you have to defend something."
"People have dismissed𝔍 our team, 𝓀especially for the team time trial but I think we'll surprise people, I think we can do well.
"We've got a good team, we've all worked hard for this race and so we're not here to mess around. We've got the Izagirre brothers who showed they're on form, for the mountains we'v𓂃e also got Pozzovivo who had a good Giro and Pell♉izotti, while for the flat stages we've got Koren, Colbrelli, with Haussler an expert for the cobbled stage."
"I've no need to be angry, indeed I feel relaxed and💮 ready to ⛄race. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next three weeks."

Stephen is one of the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.