Vincenzo Nibali has reiterated that he will not ride the Giro d’Italia despite speculation in the Italian press last week that he might be drafted in to Astana’s line-up following Fabio Aru’s recent bout of illness.
“I’ve already said ‘no’ many times. I won’t be present at the Giro d’Italia, it’s not in my programme,” Nibali told Swiss radio station RSI on the eve of the Tour de Romandie, a stance he reiterated in an interview with the race organisation.
“In my programme there’s only the Tour de Romandie for the moment, and the Tour de France. I deny all the rumours circulating concerning me and the Giro d’Italia.”
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As in 2014, Nibali lines up at the Tour de Romandie without a win to his name so far this season, though he showed some signs of life during the Ardennes Classics, attacking in the finale of Amstel Gold Race and placing 13th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, though he was dropped after trying to break clear on the Côte de Saint-Nicolas.
Twelve months ago, Nibali took fifth overall at the Tour de Romandie, but he was coy about what he might achieve this time around. “We’ll see day by day and stage by stage. There are a lot of riders here in good condition,” Nibali said, adding that his teammate Jakob Fuglsang also had general classification aspirations for Astana.
The Swiss event sees Nibali face off against Chris Froome (Sky) in a stage race for the first time this season, while another Tour rival, Nairo Quintana (Movistar), is also on hand. Froome has won the race in each of the past two seasons, but has had a mixed campaign thus far in 2015. After winning the Ruta del Sol in February, Froome missed Tirreno-Adriatico through illness and struggled at the Volta a Catalunya, before crashing in the finale of Flèche Wallonne last week.
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