On the upper reaches of the Swiss side of the Stelvio, a little shy of 2500 metres above sea level, Vincenzo Nibali's Giro d'Italia finally began. For more than two weeks, the Bahrain-Merida leader was always up there, yet never quite where he needed to be. A victory in Bormio on Tuesday's stage 16 has changed all of that.
Four days from the end of the Giro, Nibali is suddenly just 1:12 off Tom Dumoulin's overall lead, and only 41 behind the second-placed Nairo Quintana (Movistar). He overturned a heftier deficit in less time a year ago, and though the opposition is loftier this time around, at least by reputation, Nibali's general condition and morale through the opening acts of this Giro have been notably higher.
"It's never easy but I've always had good sensations at this Giro, even if lost time on the summit finishes, but that was when there was just one climb on the stage. We've raced well and we're happy so far," Nibali said during an appearance on RAI's Processo alla Tappa programme after the finish of stage 17 in Canazei. "The win yesterday was a beautiful one, and it's given a bit of morale to all of us. Tomorrow we can play our card again."
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If Tuesday's stage, which incorporated the Mortirolo and twin ascents of the Stelvio, was deemed to be the Giro's tappone, then a new superlative might just be required for Thursday's demanding leg through the Dolomites to Ortisei. No fewer than five climbs are shoehorned into just 137 kilometres of racing, as the Giro tackles the Pordoi, Valparola, Gardena, Passo di Pinei and Pontives. If Nibali and Quintana don't manage to discommode Dumoulin, it certainly won't be because the route of this Giro didn't give them a chance to do so.
"Tomorrow's stage is one of those that wears you down, and the energy you have left at the end will be crucial," Nibali said. "It's a new climb at the end, too, and that won't be easy. Nairo, certainly, will want to do something tomorrow as well. We'll see in the race."
A working alliance
The precise nature of Nibali and Quintana's relationship has been parsed and analysed ad nauseam in the Italian press since the Giro left Alghero almost three weeks ago. Some place the source of the reported frostiness to Nibali's comments regarding Quintana's tendency to train for long spells in his native Colombia during the season, while others point to the time Quintana inadvertently caused Nibali's friend and closest gregario Valerio Agnoli to crash at the 2016 Tour de San Luis.
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