Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) has called on Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara and Greg Van Avermaet to attack with him during the finale of Milan-San Remo to stop the sprinters winning this year’s race.
In a long interview with Gazzetta dello Sport on the eve of La Classicissima, the Sicilian talked about how he hopes to break the sprinters' defensive ‘catenaccio’ tactic but hints his attack will come on the Poggio rather than the Cipressa. Nibali seems inspired by the rare attacks that have succeeded at Milan-San Remo, revealing that the first edition of the race he remembers as a boy was in 1991 when Claudio Chiappucci won alone after attacking on the Turchino and then dropping Rolf Sorensen on the Poggio.
Nibali gave the interview at his home in Lugano, Switzerland, revealing his dislike that a neighbour once spied on him with binoculars while he was riding on the turbo trainer. He also revealed that he is carefully considering offers for 2017 from Astana, Trek-Segafredo but also the expected new Bahrain team.
During Tirreno-Adriatico Nibali had suggested he would never ride Milan-San Remo if the Manie or another climb were not added. True to character he quickly changed his mind, with the cancellation of last Sunday’s key mountain stage leaving him angry and without a chance of fighting for overall victory. He seems determined to channel his anger during the finale of Milan-San Remo.
“I’m riding Milan-San Remo because it’s a beautiful race, because my friends, teammates and tifosi have asked me and because I hope to have a chance to win it,” he said.
“The key to Milan-San Remo is the riders and how they race it. It depends on if we ride hard or if there’s a catenaccio. There’s not one point that decides the race, there are several, including the wind, and there’s always the risk that 80 per cent of the sprinters can make it over the Cipressa and the Poggio.
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Nibali revealed that an alliance with Sagan, to attack on the Cipressa in 2014, was stopped by the Slovakian’s team via race radio. He hopes the world champion and others will join forces with him this year but acknowledges that attacks on the Cipressa are futile. He lists Fabian Cancellara as the favourite for victory, followed by Sagan.
“There are some important riders like Van Avermaet, Sagan, Cancellara that, like me, have to try something. Otherwise, there are riders like [Fernando] Gaviria, [Alexander] Kristoff, [Nacer] Bouhanni and [Michael] Matthews, who are superfast in the sprint,” Nibali said.
“It’s difficult that something happens on the Cipressa but you can hurt the sprinters if we ride it hard and fill their legs with lactic acid. The 9.1km between the Cipressa and the Poggio are never ending. If you attack alone, they’re never ending. I died there in 2014.”
Nibali is more likely to go on the attack on the Poggio.
“The Poggio is six minutes of pain and lactic acid. I hope to have the legs so I don’t have to sit on with the sprinters,” he concluded.
Read more...
- Milan-San Remo: Nibali to lead Astana
- Nibali could skip Giro d'Italia due to risk of mountain stage cancellations
- 10 riders to watch for Milan-San Remo - video
- Milan-San Remo preview: Is the timing right for a generational shift?
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