"I don't see any Italian riders capable of winning a Grand Tour" - Nibali's fear for the future of Italian cycling

A four-time Grand Tour winner, the recently retired Vincenzo Nibali will go down as one of the best Grand Tour riders of his generation. Casting an eye to the future however, Nibali is concerned there is no Italian rider around capable to follow in his footsteps.

"Right now, for stage races, I don't see Italian riders up to it," the now 38-year-old Nibali tells Gianluca Suardi of Global Cycling Network. "Maybe they can be built physically and mentally in the future, but now – I'm sorry to say – we'll have to wait a bit.” 

Nibali achieved eleven podium finishes at Grand Tours across his career, including overall victories at each of the three-week stage races. From Vuelta a Espana success in 2011, to a pair of Giro d'Italia wins in 2013 and 2016 and of course becoming the first Italian to triumph at the Tour de France since Marco Pantani, sixteen years previously in 2014.

Despite having had a career full of successes, Nibali admits there are a few regrets, most notably the Rio Olympics in 2016 and the 2013 World Championships in Florence. "I arrived at both of these races in extraordinary shape," the Shark of Messina recalls. "In Florence it was a difficult day with very slippery roads, while we all know how it went in Rio.”

In some ways, Nibali also regrets never achieving victory at one of his self-admitted favourite races, Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "I really liked Liège and I'm a bit sorry for not having won it," the Italian says. "I came very close but that's okay, you also have to know how to be satisfied in life."