Vincenzo Nibali and his Astana team were lodged in the grimly-titled Hotel Hell in Ortisei for the Giro d'Italia's final rest day, and he awoke on Monday morning to find that his calamitous showing on Alpe di Siusi the previous afternoon had been neither a nightmare nor a vision, but a simple matter of fact. Abandon all hope ye who enter here?
The verdict doled out by the stage 15 mountain time trial was certainly a sobering one for the pre-race favourite, as Nibali conceded 2:10 to maglia rosa Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) and slipped to third overall, some 2:51 behind the Dutchman.
The podium in Turin felt a long way off as a thunderstorm rattled across South Tyrol during Nibali's rest day press conference on Monday afternoon, and it is clear that the straight path to Giro victory has been lost. Even so, Nibali attempted to sound an optimistic note. The deficit to Kruijswijk is daunting, but the situation, he said, is not irretrievable.
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"The gap itself is important but in terms of the classification, we're all in a position to attack – me, [Alejandro] Valverde and Esteban Chaves, provided he's not happy to ride for second place," Nibali said.
"There are lots of twists in a Giro d'Italia and especially in this one. In the first week people were talking about Tom Dumoulin as a probable winner and then he abandoned. Then people were talking about Mikel Landa after his good time trial, but he paid a lot the day after. This definitely a Giro with a lot of twists, and I think that something could happen right to the end."
More on this story:
Giro d'Italia: Kruijswijk extends race lead in uphill time trial to Alpe di Siusi
Giro d'Italia: Nibali and coach Slongo discuss GC recovery possibilities - Gallery
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