Vincenzo Nibali tests endurance in Absa Cape Epic following road career retirement - "A bit for competition and a bit for fun"

Even though he has retired from professional cycling, Vincenzo Nibali's enthusiasm for the sport has not waned, and he is currently participating in the Absa Cape Epic on a mountain bike.

“A bit for competition and a bit for fun,” he told Cyclingnews before the start of Cape Epic. He continued, “As an ambassador for Q36.5, the goal for this project is to test their materials, to put them under stress, in extreme conditions such as racing in high temperatures, but also in dusty, muddy, dirty conditions.”

He partnered with Samuele Porro, an Italian mountain bike champion who has won the championship six times. In the past, he has participated in the South African event five times and secured third place twice, in 2016 and 2019, along with Damiano Ferraro.

They managed to secure the ninth and eighth positions in the first and second stages, respectively. “Today was a very long and hard stage; we rode the whole stage on sandy ground,” Nibali wrote on his social media after the second stage.