Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) went on the attack yet again at the Giro d'Italia but yet again came up empty-handed, failing to gain time on any of his overall rivals in the hilly stage 11 finale around Asolo.
Indeed at the finish the Sicilian lost 13 seconds to Andrey Amador, who made a spectacular attack with race leader Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep) in the finale, as it became evident that the Movistar team is trying to play a twin-leader strategy with the Costa Rican rider and Alejandro Valverde.
Valverde was quick to jump on Nibali's wheel on the descent of the Forcella Mostaccin climb with 18km to go but then refused to work with him to protect Amador's overall classification placing, just 24 seconds down on Jungels. It was the moment that Nibali realised he faces a testing game of cycling chess with Movistar at the Giro d'Italia and did not waste the opportunity to questions Valverde's hesitation.
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"Every opportunity could be worth it, it could be the right move. We're here to race, not to go for a stroll," he told Cyclingnews and other media at the Giro d'Italia from the steps of the Astana team bus after the stage.
"When you see a chance, it's only right to go for it, and even to try surprise moves and counter attacks. That's racing. It didn't work out today but if it had, we could have gained 30 or 40 seconds, which could have been really important in the fight for the overall classification."
More on this story:
Giro d’Italia stage 11 results
Giro d’Italia stage 11 – Finish line quotes
Giro d’Italia stage 11 highlights - Video
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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