Vincenzo Nibali: Tour de France champion injury-free and ready to fight for yellow jersey

The embattled Tour de France champion says an Achilles tendon injury had curtailed his winter schedule, but he is now ready to face his rivals for the famed yellow jersey.

Vincenzo Nibali, yellow jersey, has been hiding an Achilles injury but insists he is full fit for the Tour de France. Eric Feferberg / AFP
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The embattled Tour de France champion says an Achilles tendon injury had curtailed his winter schedule, but he says he is now ready to face his rivals for the famed yellow jersey when cycling’s most prestigious race begins next week.

Injury

“I had a problem that I’ve never spoken about. This winter I had an Achilles problem, which I have now thankfully got over,” Nibali said. Nibali put an end to his season drought by winning the Italian national road race crown for the third time on Saturday thanks to a commanding performance on the way to the race’s uphill finish at Superga, outside Turin. As well as ending his stretch without a victory, it gave him the opportunity to wear the Italian tricolour jersey for the rest of the season. A week before the Tour de France start in Utrecht, the privilege comes in timely fashion.

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Victory

“I needed this win, it’s done me a lot of good. It’s liberated me from a lot of the pressure I’ve been under,” said Nibali, whose Astana team came close this season to being banned from the sport after a string of failed doping tests in the team and its Continental set-up. Italians now hope it will be enough for Nibali — only the sixth rider to win all three Grand Tours after Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Alberto Contador — to deflect the challenge of three formidable rivals in the July 4-26 race.

Rivals

The 2013 Tour de France champion Chris Froome, Spain’s two-time winner Contador and Colombian climbing sensation Nairo Quintana are vying to topple Nibali this July. Froome (five victories) and Contador (four) have been busy winning key races and Quintana, with two wins this season, has been training hard in the mountains of Colombia as Nibali struggled through a mostly underwhelming season.

Struggle

Nibali managed only 16th place in the Tirreno-Adriatico in March — a race he won in 2012 and 2013 — and then finished 10th in the Tour of Romandie. At the Criterium du Dauphine, Nibali’s best result was a second-place finish on the mountainous sixth stage behind Rui Costa. “At the Dauphine, I wasn’t strong enough to deal with the fatigue and I also made a few mistakes,” Nibali said.

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