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. Ad/> 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. Giro d'Italia‘My time has come’ – Nibali will not ride Giro again as retirement plans revealed3 HOURS AGO ‘My time has come’ – Vincenzo Nibali to retire at the end of 2022 Groupama-FDJ propel Demare to thrilling victory on Stage 5 as Cavendish dropped Giro d'Italia Stage 5 as it happened — Cavendish and Ewan distanced as Demare takes win 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.