Vincenzo Nibali: I can't make any big proclamations ahead of the Giro d'Italia

Trek-Segafredo's Vincenzo Nibali on stage 20 of the 2020 Giro d’Italia
Trek-Segafredo's Vincenzo Nibali on stage 20 of the 2020 Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

A great deal of the Giro d’Italia’s appeal may lie in its ability to throw up the unexpected, but the host broadcaster has always been glad of a familiar face around whom to build its narrative. In the 1970s, that figure was Felice Gimondi, as the late Adriano De Zan, RAI television’s man in the booth for over four decades, once pointed out. “A television commentator has an obligation to offer viewers a safe product... With Gimondi, I could be certain,” De Zan said. 

Vincenzo Nibali’s palmarès, consistency and standing make him an obvious heir to Gimondi, and one can only assume that RAI executives breathed a sigh of relief this week on learning that the Trek-Segafredo rider had confirmed his Giro participation despite breaking his right wrist in a training crash near his Lugano home in mid-April.

Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.