A breakthrough for Nibali

Back in 2007, when the Giro della Toscana was a one-day race held in May, a fresh-faced 22-year-old Vincenzo Nibali emerged from the pouring rain in Arezzo to take only his third professional win. Despite Nibali still being relatively unknown outside Italian racing circles, the victory would presage the flamboyant style of many of his later triumphs. He attacked on the Scopetone climb with 15 kilometres to go and then used his stellar descending skills to drop the Colombian José Serpa on the downhill. He soloed to the finish line 15 seconds clear. The victory came just 24 hours after Nibali had won the GP Larciano, where he beat his Liquigas team-mate Franco Pellizotti in the sprint for the line. The weekend performances were enough for the Italian national directeur sportif at the time, Franco Ballerini, to say with knowing understatement: “There is still a lot to uncover but I see him as being a protagonist in stage races.” And just a couple of weeks later, Nibali made his Giro d’Italia debut and finished 19th overall.