Vincenzo Nibali dedicated his overall victory at the Tour of Croatia to Michele Scarponi, describing his close friend and former Astana teammate as a brother he has lost in a way that is impossible to accept and understand.
Nibali stood head bowed before Saturday's stage as the Tour of Croatia remembered Scarponi with a moment of silence one day after Scarponi was killed in a crash with a van while training in Italy.
While others shed a tear, Nibali preferred to hold in his emotions and bravely found the courage to race on as leader of the Bahrain-Merida team. He has promised to attend Scarponi's funeral on Tuesday and is likely to travel to Scarponi's home in the village of Filottrano on Monday to pay his last respects at the chapel of rest that will be open to the public in the local sports hall.
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Nibali missed out on the stage victory on Saturday and lost the leader's jersey but shook off any disappointment. He was determined to win for Scarponi and made sure he took the key intermediate sprint and a time bonus to take back the race lead. He also finished fourth in the same time as stage winner Sacha Modolo, while Saturday's winner Jaime Ronson (Caja Rural) lost a handful of seconds and finished second to Nibali in the overall classification, eight seconds back.
"This win is for Michele, for a great friend; he was like a brother for me," Nibali said.
"The last two days have been difficult and everyone can understand why. I raced with sadness in my heart, even if my form was good. I wanted to win for Michele."
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