July 14, 2014– Tour de France– Stage 10–After Planche des Belles Filles Finish–Vosges
After winning stage 10 of the Tour atop the Planche des Belles Filles in spectacular fashion, Italian Vincenzo Nibali got a chance to think about winning the big race now that his last big competitor, Alberto Contador has abandoned.
Speaking to reporters he credited his performance today to help from his Astana teammate Michele Scarponi who shepherded him up the final climb to conserve enough energy to launch an attack against Michal Kiatkowski and Joaquim Rodriguez.
Earlier in the stage, Alberto Contador had crashed and broken his tibia, causing him to abandon the Tour before he reached the third climb of the day. It was the second major contender to leave the Tour: Chris Froome, the 2013 winner crashed in stage s 5 and 6 and left the race after riding on the cobbles with a hurt wrist and crashing a third time.
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Vincenzo Nibali regained the yellow jersey today after passing the break riders on the final climb in the Vosges.
Though Nibali’s triumph up the Planche des Belles Filles may have looked easy the Italian national champion said it was anything but. “This was the hardest stage I’ve ever done in a Grand Tour, with seven climbs and so many crashes,” said Nibali who blamed rain and fog for making a hard race harder.
“I’ll try to keep the yellow jersey but I won’t be left without rivals,” he said , naming Richie Porte and Alejandro Valverde as top rivals.
“As I crossed the line, I dedicated it to my baby girl. I speak with my wife every day on the phone and she told me that Emma becomes silent and opens her eyes wide when she hears my voice on TV.” Nibali got married in November 2012.
Nibali also expressed sympathy for his main antagonist, Alberto Contador. “He crashed just in front of me and I’ve been scared that I’d go down as well but I don’t know why he crashed. I’ve just seen that it was a heavy fall. We stopped pedaling for a while. I spoke with Richie Porte, I also spoke with my team car, but Tony Martin was 4.30 ahead, so we’ve had to ride again.”
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Nibali as he reached the summit at the Planche des Belles Filles after leaving Rodriguez in the dust. ASO/G.Demouveaux
Discussing strategy, Nibali said that breakaway that was established early on worked in the Astana Team’s favor because it brought out Lotto-Belisol riders to control the race, and that the gap was breached by Contador and Sergio Paulinho. “In the following downhill, we were there to try and take the race in hand,” he explained.
Nibali also explained how he managed to pedal away from top contenders near the top of the seventh climb into Planche des Belles Filles, which ended in a brief 20 percent grade.
“I think that my performance today was of a very high level, similar to the 2013 Giro d’Italia. With my coach Paolo Slongo, we prepared for the Tour at perfection in order to reach the top level here. Before the Dauphiné, I went to Tenerife for a training camp with all my team-mates for the Tour. We did an intense work there. At the Dauphiné, I was well but I didn’t have the condition to challenge the best riders. After the Dauphiné, I didn’t go home. I went to the Passo San Pellegrino to do a specific work. I’ve done some changes of rhythm in the climbs behind Slongo’s motorbike because I knew I would have to fight against Contador in steep uphill finishes here.”
He also would not answer whether he thinks he will win the Tour. “Shall I win the Tour, it’ll be difficult to say I win because Chris Froome and Contador have crashed. I already had a good lead and I was ready to fight in a big duel with Alberto. Crashes are part of the sport. I’ve crashed myself many times in the past as well. It’s a pity that the Tour has lost two major protagonists. I hope it’s not too bad for Alberto. I wish him the best.”