Vincenzo Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali at the 2009 Tour of California
Personal information
Full name	Vincenzo Nibali
Nickname	The Shark
Born	(1984-11-14) November 14, 1984 (age 27) Messina, Italy
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	64 kg (140 lb; 10.1 st)
Team information
Current team	Liquigas-Cannondale
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional team(s)
2005 2006–	Fassa Bortolo Liquigas
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 2 Individual stages Vuelta a España General Classification (2010) Combination classification (2010) Stage Races Tirreno–Adriatico (2012) Tour de San Luis (2010) Single-Day Races and Classics GP Ouest-France (2006)
Infobox last updated on 17 March 2012

Vincenzo Nibali (born November 14, 1984 in Messina) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who rides UCI ProTeam Liquigas-Cannondale. Born near the Strait of Messina, Nibali's nickname is the "shark of the strait"^[1] or simply "the shark." ^[2] His first major win came at the 2006 GP Ouest-France, where he beat an impressive field on a tough course. However, experts such as Michele Bartoli have said Nibali is most suited to competing in multi-stage races.^[3] Nibali's biggest win to date is the overall in the 2010 Vuelta a España.

Career[link]

Vincenzo Nibali was born in 1984 on November 14, the son of Salvatore and Giovanna. In order to become a cyclist, he left his hometown Messina and moved to Tuscany at the age of sixteen. For ten months of the year, he lived in the house of his ex-directeur sportif, Carlo Franceschi, in Mastromarco, near Lamporecchio, where he still lives.^[4][5]

Nibali finished third at the Junior World Time Trial Championship in 2002 and also third at the U-23 World Time Trial Championship in 2004. He turned professional in 2005 with Fassa Bortolo. In 2007, Nibali rode the Giro d'Italia for the first time and finished 19th overall. 2008 saw Nibali finish 10th in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and record top-20 finishes in both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

2009[link]

Nibali finished seventh overall in the 2009 Tour de France

2009 saw Nibali record victories in Giro dell'Appennino and Gran Premio Città di Camaiore. He finished ninth overall in Vuelta al País Vasco and seventh overall in in the Tour de France, then his best placing in a grand tour.

2010[link]

Nibali began 2010 by finishing first overall in the Tour de San Luis. He wore the leader's pink jersey in the 2010 Giro d'Italia after his Liquigas-Doimo team won the stage 4 team time trial, later won the 14th stage and eventually finished third behind his teammate Ivan Basso and David Arroyo. In June, Nibali won the Tour of Slovenia. Later in the season, Nibali won the Trofeo Melinda. Nibali won the Vuelta a España without winning a stage, thanks to consistent high placings on summit stage finishes and the race's two time trials.^[6] He had inherited the race lead after Igor Anton was forced to abondon after crashing on Stage 14. This marked his first grand tour victory.

2011[link]

Nibali began 2011 with solid form, taking 5th overall in Tirreno-Adriatico. He also enjoyed a solid classics season, recording 8th place in Milan-San Remo and 8th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Nibali was one of the favourites for the 2011 Giro d'Italia, with Ivan Basso not riding, giving him sole leadership of Liquigas. He finished third overall behind Alberto Contador and Michele Scarponi, with Nibali and Scarponi fighting over second in the final week when it became apparent the gap to Contador was too large (Contador was later stripped of the title, moving Nibali up to second). Nibali was also leader of Liquigas at the Vuelta a Espana. On Stage 6, Liquigas orchestrated an escape on the descent into Córdoba, but a miscommunication saw Nibali finishing fourth, failing to take any bonus seconds. He moved to third overall on Stage 11, behind Sky duo Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome. Over the Next few stages, Nibali began to chip into Wiggins' lead by taking time bonuses from sprints. However, Stage 14 saw Nibali crack on the final climb, putting him out of contention for a podium placing. He finished seventh overall.

2012[link]

Nibali began the 2012 campaign with second overall in the Tour of Oman, one second behind Peter Velits, winning the queen stage. Nibali finished first overall in the Tirreno-Adriatico after winning Stage 5. He also won the points classification. In March, Nibali finished third in Milan-San Remo, his first podium finish in a monument.

On Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he broke away solo when he attacked on the descent of the Cote de la Roche aux Faucons and dropped his main challengers with 20 kilometers to go, but he was passed by Maxim Iglinsky (Astana) in sight of the flamme rouge (last kilometer). He held on to finish in second place.^[7]

It is rumored that Nibali will ride for Team Astana in 2013. His reported deal was confirmed by La Gazetta dell Sport.

Major achievements[link]

Nibali wears the leader's jersey at the 2010 Vuelta a Espana

Grand Tour General Classification results timeline[link]

Grand Tour	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro	-	19	11	-	3	2
Tour	-	-	20	7	-	-
Vuelta	-	-	-	-	1	7

WD = withdrew

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vincenzo Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali at Trap-Friis.dk. Archive copy at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 May 2011)

v t e Vuelta a España winners of the General classification 1935–36 Gustaaf Deloor 1937–40 Spanish Civil War 1941–42 Julián Berrendero 1943–44 World War II 1945 Delio Rodríguez 1946 Dalmacio Langarica 1947 Edward Van Dijck 1948 Bernardo Ruiz 1949 Race not held 1950 Emilio Rodríguez 1951–54 Race not held 1955 Jean Dotto 1956 Angelo Conterno 1957 Jesús Loroño 1958 Jean Stablinski 1959 Antonio Suárez 1960 Frans De Mulder 1961 Angelino Soler 1962 Rudi Altig 1963 Jacques Anquetil 1964 Raymond Poulidor 1965 Rolf Wolfshohl 1966 Francisco Gabica 1967 Jan Janssen 1968 Felice Gimondi 1969 Roger Pingeon 1970 Luis Ocaña 1971 Ferdinand Bracke 1972 José Manuel Fuente 1973 Eddy Merckx 1974 José Manuel Fuente 1975 Agustín Tamames 1976 José Pesarrodona 1977 Freddy Maertens 1978 Bernard Hinault 1979 Joop Zoetemelk 1980 Faustino Ruperez 1981 Giovanni Battaglin 1982 Marino Lejarreta 1983 Bernard Hinault 1984 Éric Caritoux 1985 Pedro Delgado 1986 Álvaro Pino 1987 Luis Herrera 1988 Sean Kelly 1989 Pedro Delgado 1990 Marco Giovannetti 1991 Melcior Mauri 1992–93–94 Tony Rominger 1995 Laurent Jalabert 1996–97 Alex Zülle 1998 Abraham Olano 1999 Jan Ullrich 2000 Roberto Heras 2001 Ángel Casero 2002 Aitor González 2003–04 Roberto Heras 2005 Denis Menchov 2006 Alexander Vinokourov 2007 Denis Menchov 2008 Alberto Contador 2009 Alejandro Valverde 2010 Vincenzo Nibali 2011 Juan José Cobo

v t e Vuelta a España winners of the Combination classification 1970 Guido Reybrouck 1971 Cyrille Guimard 1972 José Manuel Fuente 1973 Eddy Merckx 1974 José Luis Abilleira 1986 Sean Kelly 1987 Laurent Fignon 1988 Sean Kelly 1989 Óscar de Jesús Vargas 1990–1991 Federico Echave 1992 Tony Rominger 1993 Jesús Montoya 2002 Roberto Heras 2003 Alejandro Valverde 2004 Roberto Heras 2005 Denis Menchov 2006 Alexander Vinokourov 2007 Denis Menchov 2008 Alberto Contador 2009 Alejandro Valverde 2010 Vincenzo Nibali 2011 Juan José Cobo