Vincenzo nibali
2014 Cyclingnews.com’s Stephen Farrand on why the Italian deserves a place in history…
Vincenzo Nibali’s victory at the Tour de France was his first Grande Boucle success, but the Sicilian arguably deserves a place high up on cycling’s Grand Tour roll of honour due to two other simple statistics, and the significance of his victory for Italian cycling. Nibali is only the seventh Italian to ever win the Tour de France, and only the sixth rider to have won all three Grand Tours.
He follows on from Marco Pantani (1998) in the list of Italian winners, with only Felice Gimondi (1965), Gastone Nencini (1960), Fausto Coppi (1949 and 1952), Gino Bartali (1938 and 1948) and Ottavio Bottecchia (1924 and 1925) preceeding him. All are considered true campioni of Italian cycling.
Nibali also joins Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Benard Hinault and Alberto Contador as only the sixth rider in the history of the sport to have won the overall at all three Grand Tours.
Those are great facts for cycling historians but the importance of Nibali’s victory for Italian cycling is far more significant, and it could not be more timely.
The sport of ciclismo will always find ways to inspire hardcore tifosi to read Gazzetta dello Sport, watch the Giro d’Italia from the roadside and cheer on Italia at the world championships, but the broader Italian public had become deeply disenchanted with professional cycling in recent times. Years of doping scandals, the tragic death of Marco Pantani and the lack of organisation and leadership by the Italian Cycling Federation has left the sport morally and economically bankrupt, and without a vision for the future.
Nibali’s victory, his consistency and his character have given Italy and Italian cycling a muchneeded injection of pride and selfbelief, building on the seeds of optimism planted by Fabio Aru’s third place at this year’s Giro d’Italia and Nibali’s own victory at the 2013 edition of his home Grand Tour.
Cycling is becoming cool again in Italy, more and more people ride bikes for transport and for health reasons. Nibali can become a role model and example for millions of Italians struggling after a deep recession, just as Bradley Wiggins proved to be for British cyclists in 2012 with his Tour and Olympic double.
That could yet be Nibali’s biggest success and earn him a special place in the history of Italian cycling. avoiding trouble muddy hell sheffield sunday