Vincenzo Nibali 環義總排第二

第102屆環義賽 鯊魚哥總成績第二完賽

在維羅納(Verona)的最後一站，今夜上場的成員們，依舊展現出全力以赴的態度，其中又以卡魯索(Damiano Caruso)和鯊魚哥(Vincenzo Nibali)的表現最佳，分別摘下第21站的第4和第9位。

雖然主將的好成績，不足以取代粉紅衫卡拉帕斯(Richard Carapaz)的霸主地位，但他仍展現出自己的最佳表現，從賽前嚴肅備戰的神情，就能感受他敬業的態度。完成第102屆的全部賽事，進入圓形競技場的鯊魚哥，接受地主車迷最熱情的掌聲鼓勵！

鯊魚哥：「卡拉帕斯的總冠軍實至名歸。」

第102屆環義賽，由鯊魚哥領軍的巴林美利達車隊，再一次登上領獎台，主將最終拿下總成績第二的好成績！即便翻轉比賽的可能已經不大，但他仍在最後的個人計時站，跑出自己的最佳表現，也拿下單站第9的好成績，隊友卡魯索(Damiano Caruso)更跑出第4。

「我沒有遺憾，我想我的環義旅程很不錯，車隊也一樣表現傑出。這場大賽激烈而艱難，我的競爭對手非常強大，想拿下最後的總冠軍並不容易。」最終，卡拉帕斯(Richard Carapaz)穿上粉紅衫，鯊魚哥以1分05秒的差距，僅次於厄瓜多好手。

「他展現了超群的狀態，加上隊友們的協力，移動之星確實跑了一場好比賽。除此之外，不同車隊的主將牽制著彼此的行動，特別是在這場比賽的第一階段；但我不能說這個結果，是因為我們犯了什麼錯誤，因為卡拉帕斯的表現的確非常強勁，我們嘗試對他發動進攻，卻沒能奏效，這座總冠軍是他實至名歸。」

「總的來說，我可以對這次環義賽的表現感到滿意，假如我們把不到9個月前，我在環法賽經歷那場糟糕的意外考慮進去，更能做出這樣的評價。在那次意外過後，我做了很多犧牲，也做了許多努力，那些過程讓這次的結果，彰顯出更重大的意義。」

主將也將領獎台上的喜悅，和一路相挺的隊友們分享，他認為，這不只是一支堅強的戰隊，更是一支團結一心的勁旅。完成三週的艱難挑戰，巴林美利達也在維羅納圓形競技場，獲得公平競技獎(Fair Play Prize)的表揚，因為我們是本屆被判罰最少的車隊，運動家精神獲得肯定！

原文：

Vincenzo Nibali entered the Giro d’Italia with the clear goal of getting a third overall victory. In the end the Sicilian only got beaten by Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz. But with his 2nd place in the overall standings and a 3rd place for the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM in the team classification, the first Grand Tour of the season can be considered a success.

On the second rest day of the Giro d’Italia Vincenzo Nibali was in 3rd place in the overall standings - one minute behind Primoz Roglic and 1.47 minutes behind Richard Carapaz. But the third week of the race served up plenty of opportunities to upend the overall standings, and with Damiano Caruso and Domenico Pozzovivo Nibali could rely on the assistance of two strong riders far into the finale of mountain stages. Despite the fact that the Gavia as the highest pass of the race had to be scrapped, stage 16 turned out as a real test of strength due to incessant rain and low temperatures that made for tough conditions on the Mortirolo. Here the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM set to work to test overall leader Richard Carapaz. While the latter would show no weakness, Vincenzo Nibali managed to distance another strong rival with Primoz Roglic, putting 1.20 minutes into the rider from Slovenia and moving up into 2nd in the overall standings. The race for the stage win in Ponte di Legno was contested by early attackers who were no threat in the overall standings.

This pattern persisted the next day on the way to Antholz - as did the wet and cold weather. Mikel Landa accelerated away on the final climb, and on the last kilometer Vincenzo Nibali could not stay on the wheel of Richard Carapaz anymore. Thanks to the help of his team mate Domenico Pozzovivo he managed to limit the loss to seven seconds. The 18th stage was the last chance for the remaining sprinters to shine, but one early attacker managed to narrowly stay ahead in a dramatic finale. The BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM focussed its efforts on getting its leader to the finish safely, and this worked out without any issues. All that was left were three stages, two of those in the mountains. Finishing in San Martino di Castrozza, the 19th stage offered plenty of jaw-dropping scenery but the course was not hard enough to enforce a selection. Both Vincenzo Nibali and Primoz Roglic tried to attack on the upper slopes of the final climb but could not shake off their rivals.

The penultimate day of racing served up more than 5’500 vertical meters of climbing . And for a moment Vincenzo Nibali’s podium position was in serious danger: When Miguel Lopez attacked hard on the Passo Manghen, only Carapaz and Landa managed to stay on the Colombian’s wheel. To make matters worse, this trio caught up with the early attackers before the summit, getting additional help from team mates. This made the alarm bells ring, and Nibali and Roglic lost 20 seconds on the way to the summit. From there, Vincenzo Nibali made good use of his descending skills, quickly closing the gap to his rivals. As a consequence, the pace eased off and some groups merged in the valley while the overall contenders called for a ceasefire until the final two climbs of the race. There Mikel Landa attacked again, forcing Roglic and Nibali to chase. The two could not get back to the rider from the Basque country before the summit, but Vincenzo Nibali bolted away on the following descent and closed the gap to Landa. In doing so he also dropped Roglic, but not Carapaz. The Ecuadorian was too strong to be dropped on the final climb, so Nibali crossed the finish line on his wheel in 5th.

Before the Giro’s conclusive individual time trial Vincenzo Nibali was still trailing Richard Carapaz by 1.54 minutes - a margin too big to make up over a distance of 17 kilometers. The captain of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM was the second-to-last rider to roll off the start ramp. With one last all-out effort, he scored another top10 result by finishing in 9th - one place ahead of Primoz Roglic who had won the first two time trials of this Giro. But he only managed to cut down his deficit to Carapaz to 1.05 minutes. Finishing the stage race in 2nd, Vincenzo Nibali scored the 11th career podium result in a Grand Tour - an impressive performance in its own right. Damiano Caruso capped off his Giro with an even stronger performance: Finishing in 4th, he scored another top5 result. And he managed to do so despite his hard duties as a key domestique throughout the third week. And since Domenico Pozzovivo punched way over his weight category in the conclusive time trial as well, the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM handsomely secured 3rd place in the team classification.

102ND GIRO D’ITALIA, FINAL OVERALL STANDINGS
1. Richard Carapaz, ECU, in 90:01.47 hours
2. Vincenzo Nibali, ITA/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, + 1.05
3. Primoz Roglic, SVN, +2.30

TEAM CLASSIFICATION
1. Movistar Team in 270:44.14 hours
2. Astana Pro Team, + 17.36
3. BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, + 18.31