A simple jour sans or a sign of a deeper malaise? Neither Vincenzo Nibali nor his Astana manager Giuseppe Martinelli seemed quite sure what to make of the ten seconds the Italian conceded to his overall rivals on the final haul to the line at Mûr de Bretagne on stage 8 of the Tour de France.
As anticipated, the finale on the "Breton Alpe d’Huez" didn’t provoke the same level of separation among the favourites as the Mur de Huy did on stage 3. Indeed, Nibali was the only one to lose ground when he was surprisingly distanced from the leading group as the gradient gradually began to ease in the final 700 metres.
Nibali crested the summit in 30th place on the stage, 20 seconds down on stage winner Alexis Vuillermoz (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and 10 behind race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Tejay van Garderen (BMC). He slips a place to 13th overall, and is now 1:48 behind Froome.
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"It was a bad day and I didn’t expect that at the beginning of the stage," Nibali said immediately on crossing the finish line. "Before the climb, too, I felt ok, but when it accelerated at the very end, I didn’t feel good."
The lost time bookends a mixed opening week of the Tour for Nibali, who was caught out in the crosswinds in Zeeland on stage 2 and lost more ground to Froome on Mur de Huy the following day. On the other hand, he was perhaps the best of the overall contenders on the pavé on stage 4, though he finished the day without anything to show for his efforts.
Nibali was, however, the best of the Big Four of pre-race favourites in the opening time trial in Utrecht, and he will hope that a strong showing from his Astana squad in Sunday’s testing team time trial to Plumelec can put a different slant on his race as the Tour breaks for its first rest day.
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