Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Vincenzo Nibali getting ready for the stage(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) won the 2016 Tour of Oman(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) tried to go across to the move(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) has called on Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara and Greg Van Avermaet to attack with him during the finale of Milan-San Remo to stop the sprinters winning this year’s race.
In a long interview with Gazzetta dello Sport on the eve of La Classicissima, the Sicilian talked about how he hopes to break the sprinters' defensive ‘catenaccio’ tactic but hints his attack will come on the Poggio rather than the Cipressa. Nibali seems inspired by the rare attacks that have succeeded at Milan-San Remo, revealing that the first edition of the race he remembers as a boy was in 1991 when Claudio Chiappucci won alone after attacking on the Turchino and then dropping Rolf Sorensen on the Poggio.
Nibali gave the interview at his home in Lugano, Switzerland, revealing his dislike that a neighbour once spied on him with binoculars while he was riding on the turbo trainer. He also revealed that he is carefully considering offers for 2017 from Astana, Trek-Segafredo but also the expected new Bahrain team.
Nibali revealed that an alliance with Sagan, to attack on the Cipressa in 2014, was stopped by the Slovakian’s team via race radio. He hopes the world champion and others will join forces with him this year but acknowledges that attacks on the Cipressa are futile. He lists Fabian Cancellara as the favourite for victory, followed by Sagan.
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
