Following yet another great team time trial performance, Liquigas has shown that they rightfully deserve a place among the few at the top echelon of teams capable of great TTTs. While the effort was not good enough to take down Bob Stapleton's boys, it was a great first step for the team led by Giro podium finisher, Vincenzo Nibali.
"I hope and believe that I can go just as well as I did in the Giro, and perhaps finish as the overall winner," says the recent winner of the Trofeo Melinda to biciciclismo.
The Vuelta will be Nibali's final Grand Tour for Liquigas, before he heads off to Astana. Before he leaves the team that gave him his start in the professional ranks though, he hopes to take his first Grand Tour win. So far, the season has played out perfectly for him and his preparation leading up to the final Grand Tour of 2010 has been ideal.
"I come to the Vuelta in good form. After the Giro d'Italia and the Italian Championships, I took a rest, which ended in mid-July with a training camp in the mountains around the Passo San Pellegrino with my teammates…My race program in August, which I just completed, saw my form gradually improve. I went first to the Vuelta a Burgos, then I raced the Trittico Lombardo to get in top form. With my win at the Trofeo Melinda, I proved that I am ready for the Vuelta."
While Nibali feels that he has form akin to that he enjoyed in May at the Giro, where he took a stage win in Asolo, helped his team to TTT victory, and ended up on the final podium in Verona, he cautions on drawing too many comparisons between the Tours of Italy and Spain.
"It is difficult to compare the Vuelta with the Giro d'Italia, because the two races are at different points in the season, but my feeling is that I can race with the best...The biggest difference from the Giro is that it is very hot in Spain, and that will certainly be a factor in the race."
The 25 year old from Messina can count victories at the Trofeo Melinda, the Tour de San Luis (along with a stage), the Tour of Slovenia (also with a stage), and two stages at the Giro d'Italia (Stage 14 and Stage 4's TTT). There is no doubt that Nibali has grown as a rider from the one that finished a beautiful 7th place overall in his second Tour de France in 2009. For this month's Vuelta a Espana, however, Nibali will be heading in a little bit blind. Unlike the Giro and the Tour de France, Nibali has not previewed any of the Vuelta's stages, so in this case, the race bible will have to suffice. He doesn't feel that will be a significant barrier to success in the three-week loop of Spain though.
"I have only studied the route on paper. That is certainly not the same as seeing it on the road, but Kreuziger and Basso have given me some tips. I'm curious to see how it goes, and I'm delighted to race here, but I would not think that the route has too many obstacles for me. The route is tough with lots of mountains, and that's good for me. As I said before though, there are other factors at work here: the Vuelta comes late in the season and the temperature."
In 2010, more than ever, Nibali has shown himself as a rider capable of doing battle with the world's best over the most difficult courses over many days. Though he will share race leadership over the next three weeks with Roman Kreuziger, now, more than ever, Nibali has a chance to assert himself and go for his first ever Grand Tour victory. It's an opportunity not lost on the rider from southern Italy.
"I am a Grand Tour rider, and I also think that I have no received the necessary maturity. Of course, many factors play out in such a long race, but I'm in good shape, my focus is sharp, and I have a strong team - I can challenge everyone."