Vincenzo Nibali: Giro d’Italia and cycling legend - and, sadly, the Shark who lost his bite

The writing has been on the wall for a while. Almost three years since his last major win – the same year he finished runner-up in the 2019 Giro d’Italia – Vincenzo Nibali has been riding on borrowed time for a few seasons now.

It was somewhat symbolic that, just hours after Nibali had been inadvertently elevated to Astana’s leader following the sudden withdrawal of team-mate Miguel Angel Lopez on Tuesday, the Italian veteran found himself in difficulty on the slopes of Mount Etna – his unplanned push for the GC in what will be his 11th and final Giro d’Italia over before it even got started.

There’s no shame in that. It was always a big ask to expect a push for pink from a rider who hasn’t finished higher than seventh place in a stage in any of his previous four Grand Tours, and who hasn’t been a GC factor since that shock second place behind Richard Carapaz in the 2019 race.

Just 14 months earlier came perhaps the crowning moment of Nibali’s career: a solo victory in Milan-San Remo after a pulverising attack up the Poggio – made even more special by virtue of its architect being someone more readily associated with topping the podiums of cycling’s major stage races.

The year before that legendary victory in La Primavera came his equally emblematic second solo win in Il Lombardia; here was one of those unique breeds of riders, seen so seldom in the modern era, capable of winning numerous Monuments and Grand Tours.

Less than 24 hours after falling over four minutes down in the general classification amid the volcanic lava fields of Etna, Nibali chose Wednesday’s fifth stage into his hometown of Messina to address the elephant in the room.

“It’s a difficult day for me and for my family,” he said on RAI as he fought back the tears. “I’ve been waiting for this stage for a long time. It’s my city and it’s where it all started for me. This will be my last Giro and I want to share that with everyone.”

The 37-year-old added: “There was a lot of emotion riding here into Messina, my home, my family, my friends. I worked hard and long [during my career] but this season is a good moment to quit.”

Nibali is one of only seven riders to win all three Grand Tours: the Vuelta a Espana in 2010 and the Tour de France in 2013 either side of his two Giro d’Italia triumphs in 2013 and 2016. Over a career that has spanned three decades, Nibali has also become a double national champion, a two-time winner of both Tirreno-Adriatico and Il Lombardia, a winner of Milan-Sam Remo, and a Grand Tour stage winner on 14 occasions. Not bad for a rider whose career started in the shadows of Ivan Basso, Danilo Di Luca and Alessandro Petacchi…

No sooner had his announcement been made than the tributes started flooding in, notably from Bahrain Victorious, the team in whose colours Nibali took that epic San Remo win in 2018.

It was also during his fruitful time at Bahrain Victorious that Nibali last tasted success on the main stage during the 2019 Tour de France. Already out of the GC picture – Nibali would finish 1hr 37min down in lowly 39th that year, his worst Tour performance by a considerable margin – the so-called ‘Shark of Messina’ saved face with a trademark mountaintop win in Val Thorens on the penultimate day of the race. That summed him up: a tenacious rider who never gave up and who was always capable of the extraordinary even at his most ordinary, when performing well below his expected levels.

There was a prolonged sweet spot in Nibali’s career – between the years 2009 and 2017 – when he finished in the top 10 in 10 consecutive Grand Tours, when he won four of cycling’s major stage races and podiumed on six other occasions over the course of 15 appearances.

For all those fans who couldn’t stand the suffocating Team Sky years, Nibali will be forever remembered as the exciting livewire who stalled Chris Froome’s reign at the top with that scintillating Tour win in 2014, during which he won four masterful stages and put in a barnstorming display over the muddy Arenberg cobbles that went down in cycling folklore.

Who could forget, moreover, that majestic ride up and over the Colle dell’Agnello to join his dear team-mate Michele Scarponi two years later when Nibali won in Risoul on his way to overturning a near-five-minute deficit just two days from the finish?

That first period at Astana marked the glory years for Nibali, who now finds himself back at the same team in very different circumstances. With stories of riders not being paid their salaries, plus the ongoing issues with the fragile Lopez, and just two wins for the team all year, now is indeed the right time for Nibali to be cutting his losses and getting off the sinking ship.

Sure, he could have used his unparalleled record together with this Giro to put himself in the shop window and secure another year in the WorldTour. But when the legs are not responding to what the brain wants to do, it’s only wise to check out.

At the end of the year, Nibali will now join Philippe Gilbert and Alejandro Valverde – three riders with a combined age of 118 years – in bowing out from the sport in which, between them, they have practically won everything up for grabs.

A 12th Grand Tour podium looks well beyond Nibali in what will be his eighteenth and final season. It just remains to be seen if one last Shark attack can deliver Nibali to a 15th Grand Tour stage win.

While it was painful for his fans to watch their man concede two minutes on Mount Etna on Tuesday it is precisely these kinds of time losses that Nibali will need to incur if he wants to boost his chances of a farewell win. After all, Nibali is someone you discount at your peril – as we all saw in 2016. So, don’t be surprised to see the apparent decline continue before a final week in the mountains during which the Shark will look to sharpen his teeth one last time.

Because before the 105th Giro d’Italia reaches Verona, Nibali will be hoping for the same kind of fairytale send-off that his contemporary and fellow legend of the sport Alberto Contador enjoyed during his last Vuelta appearance in 2017.

To replicate Contador’s victory on the penultimate stage on the fearsome Alto d’Angliru, Nibali will have to ride through the Dolomites and over the San Pellegrino and Pordoi en route to the double-digit Marmolada. Over to you, Vincenzo…

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