Tour of Lombardy: Nibali's last race - the career highlights of the Shark of Messina

Thomas Goldmann

· 07.10.2022

Tour of Lombardy: Nibali's last race - the career highlights of the Shark of Messina

Photo: Getty Velo

Vincenzo Nibali ends his career after the Tour of Lombardy, just like Alejandro Valverde. TOUR takes a look back at the Italian cycling star's remarkable career ahead of his farewell performance.

Add bookmark

CLICK THROUGH: VINCENZO NIBALI'S GREATEST VICTORIES

Vuelta 2010: Nibali reclaims the red jersey from Joaquin Rodriguez on the 17th stage and does not relinquish it until Madrid. On the penultimate day, the then 25-year-old had a thrilling duel with Ezequiel Mosquera on the climb to the Bola del Mundo, whose second place overall was later cancelled.

Nibali also ends a long dry spell with his Vuelta victory. 20 years after Marco Giovannetti, an Italian wins the Tour of Spain for the first time again.

Giro d'Italia 2013: Nibali triumphs in the Tour of Italy for the first time. The Shark of Messina rides 13 of the 20 stages in the pink jersey, which he wins in the time trial in Saltara.

Nibali celebrates his most memorable stage win of the 2013 Giro on the Three Peaks of Lavaredo. In snow and ice, the SIzilian stormed solo towards the finish line and finally rode his way into the hearts of Italian cycling fans

2014: After the red jersey in the Vuelta and the pink jersey in the Giro, Nibali completes his collection with the maillot jaune. His triumph in Paris makes him only the sixth rider after Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Hinault and Alberto Contador to achieve the Grand Slam of cycling - Chris Froome was to follow suit a few years later.

16 Images

Photo: Getty Velo

Nibali announces end of career in hometown Messina

"I've been waiting a long time for this stage, for several years, because I knew that the Giro d'Italia would stop here in Messina. In my city, in the neighbourhood where I grew up and started cycling. On the roads where I trained, I want to announce that this is my last Giro d'Italia," said a tearful Vincenzo Nibali after the 5th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2022.

In his hometown of Messina, of all places, where it all began for him, he let his fans know that he was hanging up his bike at the end of the season and getting on the saddle for the last time at the Tour of Lombardy. The retirement was not unexpected; the Sicilian's great days are long gone. And yet he seems to be getting back into really good shape just in time for his last race, as his aggressive riding style at the classic Tre Valli Varesine recently showed.

The profile of the Tour of Lombardy 2022

Photo: Veranstalter

Nibali's career with a dark side

Regardless of how the Tour of Lombardy turns out for him, Nibali has secured himself a place in the history books of cycling with his victories and, above all, his riding style.

How do you like this article?

For all his successes: Vincenzo Nibali's career has also had its downsides. At the 2015 Vuelta, he was disqualified after holding on to the team car and letting it pull him back to the peloton.

And his environment is not without its faults either. The Sicilian rode for Liquigas, Astana and Bahrain. Three teams where there have been repeated doping scandals. However, Nibali himself has not been guilty of anything in this regard.

At the end of his career, it remains that he was the only rider who managed to end the Sky team's (later Ineos) winning streak between 2012 and 2019 at the Tour de France and he was one of the very few cyclists in his era to win major national tours and cycling monuments.

The successes of Vincenzo Nibali

2x Giro d'Italia overall standings
1x Tour de France overall standings
1x Vuelta a Espana overall classification
2x Tour of Lombardy (2015, 2017)
1x Milan-Sanremo 2018
2x Tirreno-Adriatico overall classification (2012, 2013)
7 stage wins at the Giro d'Italia
6 stage wins at the Tour de France
1 stage win at the Vuelta a Espana
2x overall classification Giro del Trentino (2008, 2013)
1x overall classification Tour of Oman (2016)
1x Grand Prix Ouest France - Plouay (2006)
11x podium at a Grand Tour

Nibali managed to turn around races that already seemed lost - sometimes with a crowbar, sometimes with tactical tricks. And even if these times will soon be over. Many cycling fans will be grateful to him for a long time to come.

Home