Nibali: Froome wouldn’t have won his four Tours without Team Sky

Vincenzo Nibali has told Cyclingnews that he agrees with the idea of a salary cap in professional cycling to reduce the dominance of Team Sky in Grand Tours, firmly believing that Chris Froome would not have won the Tour de France four times without the support of such a dominant team.

Nibali ended his 2017 season with a victory at Il Lombardia last Saturday. He described his first season with Bahrain-Merida as ‘very good’, insisting he has few regrets and is enthusiastic about what 2018 will bring. He will again race with instinct and natural aggression in the Grand Tours, with the tough world championship course in Innsbruck, Austria, an extra goal for next season.

Nibali finished third in the Giro d’Italia behind Tom Dumoulin and Nairo Quintana and then was second at the Vuelta a Espana behind Chris Froome. He is now one of the most consistent Grand Tour riders in the history of the sport. He won the Giro d’Italia in 2013 and 2016, the Tour de France in 2014 and the Vuelta a Espana in 2010. He has a total of 10 podium finishes, one more than the legendary Fausto Coppi and the same as Gino Bartali. Such is his place in the history of Italian and global cycling.

“Some people have said: ‘You had a good season but you didn’t win a Grand Tour’. I just shrug my shoulders when I hear that,” Nibali tells Cyclingnews during an exclusive end-of-season interview.

“The only thing better than the podium is to win. I was up there fighting for victory every day for 21 days, so I believe that even second or third is a great result.”

Nibali argues that the time trials in the Giro d’Italia proved to be a major handicap in his effort against Dumoulin in the Italian race, while Froome and Team Sky proved to be unbeatable at the Vuelta, with their strength in depth allowing them to dominate the racing.

Nibali and Froome locked horns on every key stage of the Vuelta. The Briton gained 57 seconds in the stage 16 time trial but Nibali pulled back 42 seconds the day after on the steep finish of Los Machucos, only to lose 21 seconds on the steep finish to Santo Toribio de Luebana on stage 18 as Alberto Contador ripped up the race in his long, aggressive farewell.

Nibali lost 34 seconds to Froome on the final mountain finish on the Angliru after crashing on the descent to the foot of the climb. He damaged his ribs but fought all the way to the finish to limit his losses and hold onto his second place on the final podium in Madrid.