Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo): winner of the 2010 Vuelta(Image credit: Sirotti)
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) kisses the trophy(Image credit: Sirotti)
The final 2010 Vuelta a Espana podium: Ezequiel Mosquera, Vincenzo Nibali and Peter Velits.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) after regaining the race lead in the Vuelta.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) turned himself inside out to keep pace with Mosquera.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Vincenzo Nibali was forced to move from Sicily to Tuscany while still a schoolboy to pursue his dreams of becoming a cyclist but by winning the Vuelta a Espana, he has now confirmed he is one of the best stage race riders of his generation and a likely contender against Alberto Contador in future editions of the Tour de France.
Nibali was emotional but happy after climbing onto the final winner’s podium in Madrid and pulling on the winner’s ‘roja’ jersey.
“I’ve always wanted and always dreamed about winning a grand tour and now I can finally say that I’m part of cycling’s elite that has done it,” he said.
“It was difficult to win, I had to fight and go deep but I built my victory day after day by being careful about every tiny aspect of the race: the time bonuses, my position in the peloton, and the finale of every stage. The last few days were the hardest because it seemed that everybody was racing against me. But climbing onto the final podium in Madrid is one of the best moments of my life. It’s all very emotional and it will take me a few days for it to sink in that I’ve won the red jersey.”
Nibali is a complete rider and has often been described as the Italian answer to Alberto Contador because he can both time trial and climb. He has played down the comparison but is not afraid to say he wants to try and take on the Tour de France winner in years to come.
After celebrating his Vuelta success, Nibali will join up with his teammates in the Italian national team and then travel to Australia on Tuesday for the world road race championships. He is part of the nine-rider Italian team and is ready to play whatever role is asked of him in the road race on October 3.
“It’s an incredible season but it isn’t over yet. I’m going to join up with the rest of the Italian team tomorrow that is about to leave for Australia,” he said.
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“It’s going to be my first world championships but I’m ready to give it everything. National coach Paolo Bettini knows me pretty well and I’ll do whatever he asks me to do. There isn’t a lot of time to recover from the Vuelta but that’s okay.”
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
