Vincenzo Nibali is entering the final week of his career as a pro cyclist, but he will have high ambitions until the very end as he's eyeing Il Lombardia, and is showing good form towards it.
At the end of yesterday's Coppa Agostoni, where the veteran finished eighth on the day, he said: “The nine strongest riders were at the front. But after the last climb there was no opportunity to attack. I tried, just like Formolo, but the pace never dropped below 50 km/h… But the legs were good.”
Nibali formed part of a group of nine riders that rode clear of the peloton in the final hilltop, and had no option but to go head-to-head with them on a sprint. The Astana Qazaqstan Team rider didn't have the legs to outsprint Sjoerd Bax and the likes of Alejandro Valverde, but showed good signs ahead of the coming week, specially as this was his return to competition.
"I haven't raced for a long time after the Vuelta, so this was a good test. Lombardia is the most important goal for me this autumn," he admits. "Today the legs reacted well, we will see how it goes in the Tre Valli Varesine. But Lombardy is still sixty kilometers longer, so that can also make a difference."
As a winner of the monument in 2015 and 2017, Nibali will head into northern Italy with ambitions of fighting for a top result after he saw his good form back at this year's Giro d'Italia.
“It's nice to see these four old men up front. Like Valverde, I go to Lombardia with the desire to leave my mark on the race. We know it will be difficult, but we want to try," he concluded.
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