Vincenzo Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali (born 14 November 1984) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2005 to 2022.

Vincenzo Nibali was born on 14 November 1984 in Messina, Sicily, the son of Salvatore and Giovanna.

In order to become a cyclist, he left his hometown Messina and moved to Tuscany at the age of sixteen.

For ten months of the year, he lived in the house of his former directeur sportif, Carlo Franceschi, in Mastromarco, near Lamporecchio.

Nibali finished third at the UCI World Junior Time Trial Championships in 2002 and also third at the UCI World Under-23 Time Trial Championships in 2004.

Having turned professional in 2005 with, Nibali signed with in 2006.

In that year, he won the French classic GP Ouest–France at 21 years of age.

He also finished in second position overall of the 2.1 rated Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali, taking the win on the first stage.

His first major win came at the 2006 GP Ouest–France, a UCI ProTour event.

However, experts such as Michele Bartoli have said Nibali is most suited to competing in multi-stage races.

He is a highly capable descender and bike handler, very good climber and good time trialist.

In 2007, Nibali rode the Giro d'Italia for the first time and finished 19th overall.

2008 saw Nibali finish 10th in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, obtaining also an 11th-place finish in the Giro d'Italia and a 20th-place finish in the Tour de France.

2009 saw Nibali record a win in the Giro dell'Appennino where he attacked almost 50 km from the finish to win solo.

Another victory in 2009 was the Gran Premio Città di Camaiore.

He finished sixth overall in the Tour of California and ninth overall in Tour of the Basque Country, before sharing leadership of Liquigas at the Tour de France with Roman Kreuziger.

Nibali proved the stronger of the two and finished in seventh place overall, then his best placing in a grand tour.

He is one of seven cyclists who has won all three of cycling's Grand Tours in their career – having won the 2010 Vuelta a España, the 2013 Giro d'Italia, the 2014 Tour de France and the 2016 Giro d'Italia.

Born near the Strait of Messina, his nickname is the "Shark of the Strait", "the Shark of Messina" or simply "The Shark".

Nibali began 2010 in great form by finishing first overall in the Tour de San Luis.

He was a last-minute addition to Liquigas' Giro d'Italia squad following Franco Pellizotti's last minute withdrawal over Blood Passport irregularities.

Nibali began 2011 with solid form, taking 5th overall in Tirreno–Adriatico.

He also enjoyed a solid classics season, recording 8th place in Milan–Sanremo and 8th in Liège–Bastogne–Liège.

Nibali was one of the favourites for the Giro d'Italia, with Ivan Basso not riding, giving him sole leadership of Liquigas.

Though he entered the race as a big favorite, he could not match Alberto Contador throughout much of the mountains.

He still managed to stay in the top three throughout much of the race.

He finished third overall behind Alberto Contador and Michele Scarponi, with Nibali and Scarponi fighting over second in the final week when it became apparent the gap to Contador was too large (Contador was later stripped of the title, moving Nibali up to second).

Nibali was also leader of Liquigas at the Vuelta a España.

On stage six, Liquigas orchestrated an escape on the descent into Córdoba, but a miscommunication saw Nibali finishing fourth, failing to take any bonus seconds.

He moved to third overall on stage 11, behind Sky duo Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome.

Nibali is an all-rounder, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders of his era, having won Tirreno–Adriatico (2012 and 2013), the Giro del Trentino (2008 and 2013) and the 2016 Tour of Oman.

Nibali is most well known for his Grand Tour performances – finishing on the podium on eleven occasions – but he has proven to be a strong contender in classic cycle races as well, having won the 2014 and 2015 Italian National Road Race Championships, the 2006 GP Ouest–France and three 'Monuments' of road bicycle racing: the Giro di Lombardia in 2015 and 2017, and the 2018 Milan–San Remo.

He has also achieved podiums in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and previous editions of the Milan–San Remo.

Nibali wore the Maglia Rosa after his team won the stage four team time trial, later won the 14th stage and after some good climbing through the rest of the race, he managed to finish on the podium finishing third behind his teammate Ivan Basso and David Arroyo.

In June, Nibali won the Tour of Slovenia.

Later in the season, Nibali won the Trofeo Melinda.

Nibali won the Vuelta a España without winning a stage, thanks to consistent high placings on summit stage finishes and the race's two time trials.

He had inherited the race lead after Igor Antón was forced to abandon after crashing on stage 14.

Though he lost it to Joaquim Rodríguez, he later regained it on the final time trial.

This marked his first grand tour victory.