SHARE
COPY LINK

TOUR DE FRANCE 2014

Tour de France: Italian Nibali tightens grip

Italian Vincenzo Nibali won stage 18 of the Tour de France on Thursday to put him within touching distance of winning the overall race. By winning his fourth stage Nibali extended his lead over Frenchman Thibaut Pinot to more than seven minutes.

Tour de France: Italian Nibali tightens grip
Italian Vincenzo Nibali wins stage 18 to tighten grip on Tour de France title. Photo: AFP

Vincenzo Nibali confirmed his supremacy at the Tour de France with his fourth stage victory on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Italian won the 18th stage from Pau to the top of the Hautacam climb after 144.5km of mountainous terrain in the Pyrenees.

In doing so the Astana rider increased his overall lead to 7min 10sec ahead of Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, who was second on the stage at 1:10.

Pole Rafal Majka, the winner of two mountain stages, was third at 1:12 to secure victory in the King of the Mountains competition

Jean-Christophe Peraud made it two Frenchmen on the podium as he came home fourth at 1:15.

The 37-year-old is just 13sec behind Pinot and 2sec ahead of Alejandro Valverde, who had started the day second.

It means three riders are separated by just 15sec in the battle for second place, which should be decided on Saturday in the 54km time trial.

Although Pinot, 24, is second, he is widely regarded as the weakest of the three against the clock.

American Tejay Van Garderen came home fifth in the same time as Peraud to boost his chances of finishing in the top five overall.

He is sixth and trails 23-year-old Frenchman Romain Bardet by just over two minutes but the American is a far better timetriallist.

Yet Thursday's stage was all about Nibali's total domination as once again he gave a demonstration in the mountains

When he made his attack with 10km of climbing ahead he ate into loan leader  Mikel Nieve's advantage in no time and then simply rode away, gradually and steadily increasing the gap with every kilometre.

Preview: Thursday's unforgiving 144.5km stage 18 includes the behemoths of the Tourmalet and Hautacam mountains to climb, 

"Thursday will be a very hard day, especially after the last two days," said Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde the 34-year-old Movistar leader.

Meanwhile race leader Vincenzo Nibali even admitted he was riding within himself.

"My condition is very good and I'm ready to push right to the end but when I get to the end of a stage I'm not giving everything because I don't have to, and I've also had an eye on the next stage," said Nibali.

However, he admitted it would have been different had the best riders been there.

Reigning champion Chris Froome crashed out on the fifth stage with a broken hand and wrist while two-time former winner Alberto Contador broke his shinbone in a fall on the 10th stage on Bastille Day.

"If Chris Froome or Alberto were riding I would need to push much more but then I would also have to manage the race differently and play more of a waiting game," added the Astana team leader.

"When they attack they are more explosive so I would have to be careful.

"I have a lot of respect for these riders."

Here's a video preview of the stage from Global Cycling Network.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

SPORT

‘I never imagined it could feel this good’: Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali fought back tears as he stood on the Tour de France winner's podium and described the moment as better than he ever expected.

'I never imagined it could feel this good': Nibali
Vincenzo Nibali drinks champagne on the Champs-Elysées avenue in Paris, at the end of the 137.5 km twenty-first and last stage of the 101st edition of the Tour de France. Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP

Nibali completed his victory at the 2014 Tour by finishing safely in the pack on Sunday's 21st and final stage from Evry to Paris, won by German Marcel Kittel.

"It's the most important and the best moment, I never imagined it could feel this good because when you find yourself on this podium on the Champs Elysées, it's unique," said Nibali, reading a prepared statement.

"Now that I'm here it's even better than I imagined. I fought for this every day, I started building from a long way out with a winter preparation with the team because we had decided this was our objective.

"Some people might think it's normal but I want to thank my (Astana) team because when you achieve an objective, you do so together, not just those here with me but also those back in Italy.

"It's a success that I want to dedicate to all the staff in the team and to my family, my wife Rachelle and my daughter Emma.

"If it hadn't been for my parents who have supported me since the beginning then I wouldn't have been here.

"I've never felt more emotional in my career."

After crossing the finish line, Nibali went straight up to his wife and baby to embrace both.

By winning the final stage, German sprint king Kittel matched Nibali's achievement of winning four stages on this Tour.

The Giant-Shimano sprinter thus equalled his feat from last year when he also won four stages — including both the first and last — and wore the yellow jersey for a day on stage two.

In the final sprint he initially looked to have been caught and passed by Alexander Kristoff before finding a second wind to power through and win.

Norwegian Kristoff, who won two previous stages, finished second with Lithuania's Ramunas Navardauskas, who also claimed a stage, coming third.

"It was actually my strategy for the sprint," said Kittel.

"I was meant to start not too early so when Kristoff passed me he had already had a little more time to accelerate and gain more speed.

"That was the reason why I was a bit behind him but then I could really start my sprint and accelerate and I noticed the moment when Kristoff couldn't go faster any more.

"That was the moment to pass him again. It was close, there was a moment I thought it really wasn't enough at the end but I'm super happy."

Kittel, 26, paid tribute to his lead out team who put him in the position to win with 300m left.

"It's incredible, I'm really proud of all the team. The guys worked really hard today, they put me in a perfect position," he added.

"It's been a great Tour in our team, and I don't forget my teammate (Ji Cheng) who fell, but we'll celebrate tonight."

The day's events started, as ever for the processional final stage, at a pedestrian pace as Nibali sipped champagne with his teammates and posed for photos with the other jersey winners.

Slovakian Peter Sagan won the green sprinters' points jersey for the third year in a row while young Pole Rafal Majka claimed the king of the mountains polkadot jersey.

Frenchman Thibaut Pinot won the young riders' white jersey and also finished third overall, behind compatriot Jean-Christophe Peraud.

While Ji, who crashed on the cobbles along the Champs Elysees and was even lapped as the peloton made eight circuits around the famous Parisian avenue, achieved more than just becoming the first Chinese rider to compete at and indeed finish a Tour.

He came 164th and last but also managed the largest gap between first and last since 1954, finishing 6hr 02min 24sec behind Nibali.

SHOW COMMENTS