Nibali ends hosts’ Giro drought
BORMIO ( Italy): Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali ended the hosts’ wait for stage glory in the 100th Giro d’Italia as race leader Tom Dumoulin struggled to retain the pink jersey after a desperate toilet stop.
Nibali, the two-time and defending champion who rides for Bahrain, held off Spanish rival Mikel Landa (Sky) in a twoup sprint at the end of a climb-heavy “Queen” stage to hand the Italians their first victory of the race.
Nibali resurrected his bid for a third “maglia rosa” (pink jersey) by moving up to third place overall.
Although 2014 champion Nairo Quintana is just 31secs behind Dumoulin after the Dutchman was left chasing his rivals desperately following an unscheduled toilet stop, Nibali is only 33secs further back at 1:12secs behind the Dutchman.
“I wasn’t even thinking about giving Italy our first stage win,” said Nibali, after he and Landa raced away from Quintana on the 20km descent to the finish line.
“This is the victory of a complete rider. I had to be consistent from start to finish in a long and difficult stage. I had to be an aggressive climber, a good downhill rider and a sprinter.
“I’m delighted to have won and I’m closer to Dumoulin in the overall standings now. But there are more difficult stages to come and Dumoulin also has a time trial to his advantage in Milan.”
Dumoulin is now hoping he can survive another tough day in the high mountains.
The Sunweb team leader started the 222km ride with a comfortable lead of 2:41 on Quintana.
But his race unravelled in dramatic fashion as the peloton raced through the valley following the first descent of the Stelvio in pursuit of a group of frontrunners.
Stopping by a traffic sign and throwing his bike hurriedly into the grass verge, Dumoulin couldn’t get his cycling bib off quickly enough in a bid to relieve himself.
“I started to feel it in the downhill of the Stelvio and I had to stop,” a dejected-looking Dumoulin said later.
“Back on the bike I decided to fight and draw conclusions after the finish. I’m still in the maglia rosa but I’m very disappointed.” — AFP