Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) is happy with his form ahead of the big battle for the Vuelta a España crown. The Italian finished eleventh today, eleven seconds behind Joaquím Rodríguez. Nibali, the defending champion, is 33 seconds behind red jersey Sylvain Chavanel.
It has been a year since Nibali took the Vuelta, but some details are still in his mind. "Valdepeñas de Jaén is one of the few uphill finishes that we already did in 2010, so I knew how hard it is," Nibalis said after the race. He also knew who would make their moves. "An attack by 'Purito' Rodriguez didn't come as a surprise to me."
Nibali knows which rivals emerge in certain conditions. "He's an explosive climber like very few riders in the world; today he gave another proof of what we already knew. He has also demonstrated how threatening and how full of desire he is about winning the Vuelta." If Rodriguez has improved his time trial he will be a strong contender in this year's race.
Nibali was satisfied with his own form. "I was going well, I've tried to follow him for a bit and I've hung on with the idea of not spending too much energy." The Italian is currently trying to get the days out of the way and waiting for the big fights. "These past two days have been difficult for the whole bunch and I'm glad to have overcome them unharmed. The real battle is yet to begin."
Considering the overall ambitions, Nibali is only ten seconds off Rodriguez, with many other contenders already beyond the minute mark. While the coming days continue to be anything but flat, the weekend will have the first high mountain passes. They won't show who will win the Vuelta, but they certainly will produce a list of riders who won't. Nibali hopes that he won't be on the latter list.