Nibali seals Vuelta a España win

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) became only the fifth Italian to win the Vuelta a España after finishing safely in the peloton at the end of the final stage in the centre of Madrid.

After three weeks of intense and often spectacular racing in a re-energised 75th edition of the Vuelta, Nibali beat Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia) by 41 seconds, with Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) third overall at 3:02.

The American was perfectly placed coming round the last corner and burst through in the final 100 metres, while Cavendish struggled to accelerate down the right hand side of the road. Cavendish finished second and still won the green points jersey but he missed out on a fourth stage. Australia’s Allan Davis (Astana) was third in the sprint, Wouter Weylandts (Quick Step) was fourth and Cavendish’s lead out man Matt Goss (HTC-Columbia) hung on for fifth.

Nibali, Mosquera and third placed Peter Velits all finished four seconds back but all celebrated being on the podium in the Vuelta, knowing it will change the rest of the careers. Mosquera is widely expected to join the Vacansoleil team in 2011 and race much more internationally, Velits has emerged a future stage race contender, while Nibali has proved he has the pedigree to be Italy’s next star.

His Vuelta win, the first by an Italian rider since Marco Giovanetti in 1990, gives the Liquigas-Doimo team its second grand tour victory of the season after Ivan Basso’s success at the Giro d’Italia. Nibali is now set to inherit Basso’s role as Italy’s best stage race rider and expected to challenge Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck in next year’s Tour de France.

“I’ve become part of an elite group of riders who can win grand tours but I don’t want to change as a person. It’s a promise I’ve made myself,” Nibali told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“People are saying that I can be a big rival to Contador because I can time trial and climb. But he’s won ever grand tour he’s ridden and I’ve only won one. It will be incredibly difficult to beat him and other riders have been trying it for several years, but perhaps one day, perhaps at the Tour de France, we’ll go head to head for victory.”

Three weeks of intense racing

When the Vuelta started three weeks ago in Seville, Nibali was considered just an outsider for overall victory, overshadowed by the likes of Carlos Sastre (Cervelo TestTeam), Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha).
They all faded out of contention in the mountains or lost vital minutes in the time trial. And when mid-race leader Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) crashed out during stage 14 to Peña Cabarga, Nibali took the lead and began to really believe he could win the Vuelta.

Rodriguez took back the race lead on the mountain finish to Cotobello but then the little Spaniard cracked and lost any chance of victory when he lost more than four minutes to the Nibali in the 46km Peñafiel time trial. Mosquera also performed well against the clock, setting up the final showdown with Nibali on the climb to Bola del Mundo. Mosquera attacked and won the toughest stage of the race but Nibali did enough to hold onto the red jersey for the ride into Madrid.

Grand tour celebration

As expected, Sunday’s final stage was a classic grand tour parade stage with a five-rider break acting as the early entertainment before the final sprint and the podium celebrations.

Dominik Roels (Milram), Javier Ramirez (Andalucia-Cajasur), Jurgen Van Goolen (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Olivier Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Gonzalo Rabunal (Xacobeo Galicia) worked hard and gained almost a minute but were never allowed to get away.

First Liquigas-Doimo led the peloton onto the finishing circuits and then Garmin-Transitions, Lampre-Farnese Vini and HTC-Columbia set a high pace in pursuit. The break was caught with 14km and two laps to go and everyone was ready for the grand finale. With four kilometres to go an Omega Pharma-Lotto rider tried a late attack but he was quickly caught and the lead out trains took over.

Quick Step took over from HTC-Columbia in the final two kilometres but Goss again dragged Cavendish to the front after the final corner. However it was not to be Cavendish’s day and Farrar emerged faster and stronger, to win and take a moral boosting victory before the world championships in two weeks time.