The summer of Antonio Nibali proceeds through the hills of the Marche in Filottrano Michele Scarponi. The Sicilian has been living in those parts for some time now, with his wife and their little girl Mariasole. But especially in this first part of the season, the rider from Trek-Segafredo He showed himself to be lively as we have rarely seen him before. Good performances at Coppi and Bartali, at Tour of the Alps and above all to Tour of Switzerland, where he found himself fighting face to face with some real “big boys”.
We talked to him about his future, which could soon be far from his brother. Vincenzo, as happened in his first years as a professional when he was in the ranks of Nippo-Fantini.
Antonio, how would you rate your season so far?
I'd say a 7,5-8. I haven't done many races and when I have I've tried to be a protagonist. In the end, year after year I tried, and succeeded, to improve.
And at the Tour of Switzerland we saw you competing among the greats…
I felt good. I actually wanted to try for the overall standings, but then on one stage the group split up on the descent and I was left behind. At that point, since I no longer had any ambitions for the overall standings, there was no point in holding on, and I tried to bring home something, like the KOM jersey. I lost it on the last day. Samitier and I butted heads all day and Woods, who only won one GP, screwed us. But it's important to always believe, have fun and try... otherwise you never know how it will go.
What will you do now?
I'm coming off a week of rest. I'm getting back into training right now. I'll do the Tour de Wallonie, San Sebastian... Return.
At Trek-Segafredo ciccone He was the designated captain for the Vuelta since the beginning of the season, but maybe something could change after the Olympics: what kind of adventure will it be for you?
On paper he is the captain, but after the call to the Olympics I don't know what Giulio wants to do. I'll be ready, I'll try to win some stages and help him as much as possible. And if I were to stay with the best I might try to anticipate a little, to attack first. We'll see how it goes day by day.
But how far can Antonio go? You said before that you've improved, you're still quite young (he's about to turn 29, ed.)... Will you ever be in contention for a grand Giro? For shorter stage races? For the best climber's jerseys?
Ultimately, it's not easy to win. You see how things go, also based on how you are doing in that race, and often things happen by chance. As for the overall standings in a Grand Tour, I don't think so; if anything, I could aim for a few stages. Yes, I could aim for the points classifications for the GPMs since I hold up well on the climbs. But as I said, my goal is to improve, which is the same as everyone else's.
And you, besides the computer data, what do you see that you've improved from?
From the fact that when I get home from even the hardest workouts, I feel better and recover well. I feel like my body absorbs them well.
This talk about the continuation of your career, about how you've improved, also leads us to think about a future far from your brother Vincenzo: does this "scare" you or does it give you more motivation?
Well, Sooner or later this moment will come and I will have to detach myself from him (There's an eight-year age difference between the two, ed.) Vincenzo has decided to continue at least another year, and we'll see if it'll be our last together or not. But for me, it'll be okay to move on without him.
In what sense?
After all, it already happened when Vincenzo was at other races and I worked for another captain. For example when I was in Bahrain I worked for izaguirre And they often asked about me because I was a helpful person. I didn't mind my own business, and they admired me for that, because I always gave 100%.
And without Vincenzo or another captain on duty, given that you're improving and that you've also fully experienced the life of a gregarious, if they told you that you were the captain, do you think you would be able to carry out this role?
I think so. In the end, the races are always the same, Whether you're the leader or the follower, you still have to give your all. If anything, things change in the post-race management: you have more commitments, there's more tension. That's where you have to know how to manage yourself.
