Vincenzo Nibali about fans in races: The alcohol consumption is too high and people do everything to appear on TV
Aug 14 2018 11:18 pm CET
Photo of Vincenzo Nibali by Jonathan Roorda / CyclingPub.com
Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) continues his recovery after the crash he suffered at the Tour de France that caused him a vertebra fracture.
The Italian hit the deck after his handlebar got tangled with the public, on a stretch that was full of people with flares. "In some circumstances, now cycling has become a circus," the rider tells in an Interview with La Gazzetta Dello Sport. "The alcohol consumption is too high and people do everything to appear on TV. The people on the sides often have flags and we ride blindly, without seeing where we go and praying to the heavens that the road opens before us. For this situation, we paid heavily."
"He never complains, but does it seem fair that (Chris) Froome is constantly hit while doing his job? He took one hit a moment before my fall. Too often we ride in crazy situations."
Nibali fell and the fans lifted him from the ground and put him back on the saddle. "If you think about it, it's crazy. I was still on the ground with tremendous pain. It would have been enough with something a little different and now I wouldn't be able to move. At the finish, I could not even get off my bike. My parents immediately understood that the situation was bad."
The rider has returned to training in order to get in shape for the Vuelta a España and the World Championships, one of his main goals for the season. "I have the condition I had in January," he explained. "No discomfort during riding. But if I stay a lot of time in a fixed position, I feel a strong annoyance. It hurts. I struggle to turn my torso to the right, but I hope the situation gets better."
Nibali doesn't have high expectations for the Spanish grand tour. "The most logical thing, given the condition and thinking about the World Championships, would be to ride it without thinking of the classification, as 21 classics. The Vuelta is the best preparation for Innsbruck."
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDS