Vincenzo Nibali certain that Remco Evenepoel will "almost certainly give away the jersey early on"

Tactics in Grand Tours can be somewhat complex. The teams fighting for the overall win at times look to save their weapons for as late in the race as possible, and for that reason Vincenzo Nibali believes Remco Evenepoel is keen on letting another rider take on the responsibility.

“Opening time trials have always shown the big leaders making a big impact in a Grand Tour from the word go, so that in itself is not so unusual. Just think of 2019 when Roglič took the Giro’s pink jersey in Madonna di San Luca," Nibali told Cyclingnews. "So we’re seeing Remco do something [like] that, but the difference is that he did such a good time trial, one that blew away his rivals.”

Evenepoel's opening day at the Giro was nothing but stupendous and truly opened the fight for the pink jersey. Giving time away for free to his rivals would be a bad decision naturally, but the Giro is known for it's successful breakaways in the first week specially in the mountainous days. As GC riders typically race conservatively over them in fear of being attacked and to save legs for later in the race, many times smaller names get big opportunities to jump into the race lead via breakaways.

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“The Giro is very long, and I think he’ll almost certainly give away the jersey early on to try and get it back. But a lot can happen regardless of what he wants to do," Nibali believes, with stage 4 to Lago Laceno being the most obvious place for that to happen. Soudal - Quick-Step will not want to take on the responsibility and spend days working at the front of the peloton even if in conservative fashion, and so stage 4 may see the team willing to let a breakaway go up the road quite a lot.

“The last week is really tough, the [Monte] Bondone and the uphill time trial and the Tre Cime de Lavaredo is a major challenge. It comes right at the end of a stage which is already really hard in itself, with 4,500 metres of climbing and when people’s energy is all but spent," Nibali continues - he himself being a third-week specialist who would've probably loved this route.

A year after finishing a surprising fourth place at the end of the race in Verona, the 'Shark' is now back at the Giro but off the bike. He details this new experience: “It’s a very different perspective, but I’m really enjoying it. I’ve always lived through this sport as an athlete and now it’s really nice to see it as an observer, from the other side of the fence.”