‘The Shark is drowning!’ – Vincenzo Nibali, Tom Dumoulin crumble on Etna as Giro d’Italia explodes into life

ByBen Snowball

Updated 10/05/2022 at 16:56 GMT

The Giro d’Italia features three former winners in 2022 – but only one is now in a realistic hunt for the maglia rosa after Vincenzo Nibali and Tom Dumoulin’s dreams went up in smoke on Mount Etna. Richard Carapaz will now be hoping to avoid the curse of the former champion, with the 2019 winner sitting tidy in 11th in the general classification. The race has a final outing in Sicily on Wednesday.

Vincenzo Nibali and Tom Dumoulin’s hopes of winning the Giro d’Italia again are already in tatters after the pair cracked on Mount Etna.

The duo were two of three former winners in the field, alongside Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) who led home the GC favourites on Stage 4.

Nibali (Astana Qazaqstan) leaked over two minutes on Carapaz – and 4’52” on stage winner Lennard Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe) – with Dumoulin faring even worse, surrendering over six minutes to the pre-race favourites.

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The Italian won the maglia rosa in 2013 and 2016 but fell off the pace with 7km remaining on the Sicilian volcano to compound a miserable day for Astana Qazaqstan. Earlier on Tuesday, team-mate Miguel Angel Lopez abandoned the race with a hip injury.

“Vincenzo Nibali out the back, oh my word. It’s a disastrous day for Astana Qazaqstan,” said Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary.

“They were dreaming of a homecoming in pink but with around 7km to ride for the bunch behind, Vincenzo Nibali, the Shark, is drowning in the waters of his native Sicily. What a disaster."

‘Ohhh’ – Dumoulin falls off pace on Etna as Giro hopes disintegrate

The Italian’s demise swiftly followed that of 2017 champion Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), who was distanced from the peloton with around 10km remaining.

The Dutchman looked forlorn after finishing third behind Simon Yates (BikeExchange–Jayco) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) on the Stage 2 time trial. Now the reason is apparent – the 31-year-old was not in GC shape.

"I’m just not feeling good, it’s like that,” Dumoulin told Eurosport atop Etna.

“I worked hard to get here in the best shape possible. Everything is OK, but I just don’t have the legs at the moment. I don’t know why, but it is like it is."

Dumoulin, who won time trial silver at the Tokyo Olympics, is making his Grand Tour return after taking a sabbatical from cycling at the start of last season.

'He's not at the level' - Breakaway dissect Dumoulin and Nibali struggles

New recruit on The Breakaway sofa, Robbie McEwen, admitted he was not surprised at Dumoulin's struggles and suggested Jumbo-Visma had always planned to use Tobias Foss as their GC rider.

“I’ve got to be honest, I wasn’t convinced Tom Dumoulin was going to be a factor in GC in this Giro after his break from cycling," said McEwen, a 12-time stage winner at the Giro.

"His comeback has been a successful one but to ride for GC, I didn’t really see it happening in this Giro. I think Tobias Foss, the man who finished ninth overall last year, is their trump card to play.”

Meanwhile, Sean Kelly also wrote off Nibali's hopes, suggesting he could leak more time to be allowed more wriggle room from the GC contenders to pursue stage wins.

“I was expecting him to be able to hold it in the earlier part of this race for a number of days," said Kelly.

"Maybe later on in the race, because when you get into the later part of your career your recovery is a bit more difficult, but he’s not at the level at all where he can challenge.

"Nibali, if he gets himself into a position where he’s out of this race, well then it’s all about stages."

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Stream the Giro d'Italia live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

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