March 11/12 23:16 pm - Tirreno-Adriatico: Stage 5 report and full results

Posted by Editoress on 03/11/12
 

Nibali Untouchable: Queen stage victory and back-to-back wins for the team

The GC battle is back on. Vincenzo: "I raced on my terms"

When the going got tough, Vincenzo Nibali got going. The Shark chewed up the competition in the hardest stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico (stage five, which started in Martinsicuro and concluded after 196 km with a mountain-top finish at Prati di Tivo), by attacking with 4 km to go and soloing over the line 16 seconds ahead of Kreuziger and Horner. The spectacular move marked Liquigas-Cannondale’s second win in as many days (the team’s eleventh win this season, and number two for the Sicilian) and evened out the odds for the general classification with two stages until the end of the race: Nibali now lies in third place 12" behind Horner, who retains the lead, and 5" off Kreuziger, who is in second place.

"I knew the terrain was right today for me to have a go, " said Nibali, "And I couldn’t miss the chance of reopening the fight for the overall. This was the day’s racing I’d wanted and I’m very happy. I came to this Tirreno with lots of determination, and today I’ve been able to let it rip. The general classification is obviously still the main goal, even though I realise this won’t be easy. We’ve got two days to win it and the time trial will be the decider. Horner is a tough and seasoned opponent, but maybe Kreuziger gives more cause for concern as he’s a strong time triallist. My last time trial was in Argentina, and then I did a test with the team in Montichiari to improve positioning: I’ll give it my all. "

The decisive moment of the stage for Nibali was when Horner forced the pace, "His action in the central part of the climb skimmed off a lot of riders and everyone’s legs felt it. When the rhythm calmed down, I knew it was the ideal moment. I had the legs and the willpower to counterattack to gain as much as possible. " But the Shark hasn’t forgotten the impressive work done by “his” Liquigas-Cannondale in the previous phases, "Support from my teammates was the determining factor for preparing the attack. The strategy produced by Zanatta and Volpi worked, everyone knew what to do, including Sagan who provided invaluable support on the climb and then the descent: we have shown that we’re a great group and you’ll need more than a couple of errors to upset our unity. "

Nibali leaves a question mark hanging over tomorrow’s stage, "It’s not an easy stage to judge. The parcours is challenging and may hold a few surprises. I’m an instinctive rider and if there’s even a glimmer of a chance, well of course I’ll try something to capitalise on it."

Liquigas-Cannondale press release