Coming from any other rider, Vincenzo Nibali’s declaration that he has no idea of the details of the Vuelta a España route would be greeted with a grain of salt, but the Astana man has some previous history in this regard.
After defending his red jersey atop Bola del Mundo on the penultimate day of the 2010 Vuelta, for instance, Nibali had to be reminded at his post-stage press conference that there was still the final leg to Madrid to come the following day.
Two years later, it was even reported that Nibali had spent part of the build-up to the Tour de France mistakenly believing that there was a team time trial on the parcours, yet he still had the wherewithal to finish on the podium in Paris.
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"I don’t know the road book, just like in 2010. Not a bit, and I’m not worried about it,” Nibali told a press conference in Marbella ahead of the Vuelta. “I’m confident because I finished the Tour de France in good form and my feelings were good while I was training at Sestriere. Knowing the route is important, sure, but it's better to live day by day.”
Nibali was drafted into Astana’s Vuelta squad in the wake of a mixed Tour, where he finished in fourth place overall. After conceding all hopes of a repeat overall victory in the Pyrenees, the Sicilian recovered to solo to stage victory at La Toussuire in the final week, and were it not for an untimely puncture at the foot of Alpe d’Huez, he could even have competed for a podium spot.
“The Vuelta wasn’t on my programme initially, but together with the team, we decided to come here,” he said. “I had a lot of pressure at the Tour but here it’s a lot calmer.”
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