Vincenzo Nibali: Remco’s time gap in Giro d’Italia chrono the biggest surprise
Retired two-time winner experiences his home Graౠnd Tour 'from the other side of the fence'

Italian cycling star 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Vincenzo Nibali may have retired at the end of last year, but ‘the Shark of Messina’ was already back at the𒊎 Giro d’Italia this week and able to offer insight into how riders, who were h𝄹is rivals as recently as last October, were now performing in the Sicilian’s home Grand Tour.
Remco Evenepoel’s spectacular 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:opening time trial ride on Saturday was still very much the hot topic for discussion at the stage 2 sౠtart, but Nibali – famous for having a keener-than-usual ability to ‘read’ races – said the Belgian's Soudal-QuickStep rider's dramatic opening performance had only partly surprised him.
“Opening time trials have always shown the big leaders making a big impact in a Grand Tour from the word go, so that in itself is not so unusual,” Nibali told Cyclingnews in the start town of Teramo.
“Just think of 2019 when [Primož] Roglič took the Giro’s pink jersey in Madonna di San Luca," when Nibali, considered Roglic’s top rival, lost 23 seconds to the Slovenian in the opening Giro TT.
“So we’re seeing Remco do so🌄mething [like] that, but the difference is that he did such a good time trial, one that blew away his rivals.”
Nibali warned, however, that just because Evenepoel had struck such a hard blow so early in the race, it did not mean that he would be superior throughout. Too much could happen between here and Rome and the exceptionally hard third week of the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Giro d'Italia could well play a huge role in that.
“The Giro is very long, and I think he’ll almost cert🧸ainly give away the jersey early on to try and get it back. But a lot can happen regardless of what he wants to do.”
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“The last week is really tough, the Bondone and the uphill time trial and the Tre Cime de Lavaredo” – where Nibali sealed his 2꧟013 victory in the race ﷽– “is a major challenge.”
“It comes right at the end of a stage which is already really hard in🌟 itself, with 4,500 metres of climbing and when people’💫s energy is all but spent.”
If 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Evenepoel's success was widely anticipated, Nibali said he expected new names to shine through in the Giro, but that rather than the opening time trial, “it’s the first summit finish [on stage 4] where we’ll really see who they cꦚould be.”
As for Nibali himself, he said that after so many y𓄧ears as a professional, with his first Grand Tour of 27 the Giro d’Italia back in 2007, it was a real pleasure to be witnessing a three-week stage race purely as a spectator.
“It’s a very different perspective, but I’m really enjoying it,” he told Cyclingnews. “I’ve always lived through t✃his sport as an athlete and now it’s really nice to see it as an observer, from the other side of the fence.”
Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.