The Giro d’Italia number 108 began in the sign of Albania, Pedersen and Roglic, but the ambassador of the pink race is more and more Vincenzo Nibaliwith the two victories and the four podiums conquered in activity and three years as an official testimonial for the RCS group, after retiring from racing.
«From Tirana the Giro started really well, with lively stages and the pink shirts of two great protagonists. Someone starts from abroad makes a little turn up the nose, but it is always a way to promote cycling in the world, and what race better than the tour can make known the history of this sport “.
“Watch out for surprises”
“Even without Pogacar And Vingegaardthe arrows on the Air of the Giro are not lacking – highlights Nibali -, starting from Rogic And Ayusothe two great favorites of the eve; But I would keep an eye on too Del Toro, Simon Yates, Carapaz and Bernal. Then we have ours Tiberi which aims at the podium, an objective in my opinion within its reach; He must find the condition day after day, and the program allows it to him, because the next stages are not very hard. A tour that will decide the last week, with the iconic stages of Mortirolo, Sestriere and especially Champoluc, in my opinion the hardest of all with its almost 5,000 meters in altitude and 5 GPM ».
Relax in his Sicily
In Albania, Nibali arrived after a very pleasant trip to Sicily: «Now that I am much freer I try to take advantage of it, and Last April with my wife Rachele we planned this journey along Sicily, especially to make my land known to our daughters Emma and Miriam. We visited Cefalù and internal areas of the island that not everyone knows, crazy landscapes, panoramas designed by the wind; I revised in a different way those roads that in the past I had traveled in the race between the Belice valley, the lands of the Duke of Salaparuta and the Targa Florio, my land that with the Giro di Sicilia gave me the last professional victory. In addition to the landscape beauties I was also proud to make the artistic wealth of Sicily known to my daughters, from the temples of Agrigento to the villa of the farmhouse in Piazza Armerina, in Caltagirone, truly wonderful places ».
“My land is special”
A profound bond, that between Nibali, Sicily and Messina, who pushes him to clarify some contents of a recent interview: «I have never denied my origins, my parents live in Messina and when I can go to see them. I am also ready to apologize for some bad words, but it was certainly not my intention to speak ill of my land, nor fall into trivial clichés, also because the particular contexts exist everywhere, not only in Sicily. What I repeat is that to chase my dream I have never had any regrets, not even to leave my city, my family, my friends; When there was the opportunity to move I did not hesitate. Once I arrived in Tuscany I started winning, and I always looked forward, always further; I had a series of goals that did not allow me to stop or look back. It is also part of my character, I am like this, I am a little cold, but what came out in those days was also my stubbornness, another whole Sicilian feature, in wanting to achieve my goals; I see it as a value, and not only in sport, but also in everyday life. The message I wanted to send – concluded Vincenzo Nibali, 40 years old last November – is also that Sport teaches us to be together and collaborateespecially in these times when the distractions that offer us technology, the media universe and social networks can make us pay attention to achieving their goals “.