Vincenzo Nibali cruising up at the Tour de San Luis 2012
Vincenzo Nibali started his 2012 campaign at the Tour de San Luis and the cyclist is currently working hard to improve his sprinting abilities.
“I need to improve in the time trial this year and I’ve worked on it a lot,” he said. “Even here in San Luis, I’ve got the new time trial bike, so it will be a good test”.
Nibali finished 19th during the first stage of the race and was the top Liquigas cyclist on the day.
Francesco Chicchi of Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step won the race, with Juan Jose Haedo and Mauro Richeze claiming the second and third positions, respectively.
The Italian was looking good during the 145.3 kilometre stage 2 of the race but could not match the likes of his compatriot, Francesco Chicchi, who took the second consecutive victory in the race.
Nibali finished 16th during the stage 2 and occupied the 12th overall position after the stage 2 classifications.
Nibali is moving to the top slowly but steadily, which was evident during the third stage of the race.
He finished seventh during the third stage of the Tour de San Luis after a wonderful display of his skills during the 168.2 kilometre chase to Mirador.
The 27-year-old has jumped up to the fifth spot after the stage 3 classifications and is eyeing the podium for the final day.
Alberto Contador is leading the stage 3 classifications as he jumped up to the top position after Levi Leipheimer lost four seconds and dropped to the second spot.
Stefan Schumacher of Germany and Daniel Diaz of Argentina occupied the third and fourth positions, respectively.
The cyclist is looking ahead to ride the Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo and the Ardennes classics for the coming season.
He is also lined up for the Tour de France 2012 and the decision about his Giro participation is yet to be made.
He explained, “For an Italian, the Giro is really beautiful. It’s hard to pass up on the Giro, the Tour is a very important race and I haven’t ridden it since 2009”.
“In fact, I prefer the route of the Tour because the climbs are longer but less steep, whereas at the Giro they’re shorter and more explosive. But the Giro is the Giro and all that signifies…” he continued.
Nibali finished third during the two previous editions of the Giro d’ Italia and he believes that he has better chances to take the top podium position at his home event this year.
The final decision on his Grand Tour participation is yet to be made while the cyclist is keen to make an impact at the ongoing Santos Tour Down Under 2012. He is currently holding the fifth overall position after the stage 3 classifications.
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