Vincenzo Nibali has advised Remco Evenepoel to target the 2023 Giro d’Italia as develops his Grand Tour career but warned the young Belgian he faces a tough battle in the mountains if he wants to add a maglia rosa to his Vuelta a Espana winner’s red jersey.
The 2023 Giro d’Italia includes a total of 70.6km of time trials but also more than 51,000 metres of climbing and high peaks in the Alps and Dolomites before a final mountain time trial to the Monte Lussari sanctuary near the border with Slovenian.
Evenepoel could arguably gain two minutes on some of his rivals in the time trials but will also have to ride well in the mountains and perhaps the cold and snow of late May. The toughest stage of the Giro ends atop the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomites after 5400 metres of climbing. Nibali sealed his first of two Giro d’Italia there in a snowstorm in 2013 and knows more than most what Evenepoel needs to do to win the maglia rosa.
Evenepoel is still to decide if he will ride the Giro d’Italia or go directly to the Tour de France and take on Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard but he may have been tempted by the Giro d’Italia 2023 route if he took a look during his honeymoon.
“I’d target the Giro in 2023 if I was Remco Evenepoel. He won the Vuelta and so a gradual development is the best way to go in Grand Tours. It can be another important step in his development as a rider,” Nibali suggested to Cyclingnews and other media in Milan for the route presentation.
“It’s a great-looking Giro. It’s well-balanced. The climbs start early in the south and then keep coming. The final time trial will be interesting and scary for the riders because they will almost certainly switch from time trial bikes to road bikes for the concrete road up to the finish.”
Nibali was one of the last to leave the Milan theatre that hosted the presentation of the 2023 Giro d’Italia, almost as if he was hanging on to the final moments of his career as a rider and holding back the idea that he will not be at the start of the Giro d’Italia in 2023. He was the last Italian to win the Giro in 2016, with the home nation hoping a young rider can quickly step up and show similar potential.
“The Giro has always been special for me, from discovering my first Giro as a young rider, to being a leader, winning twice and then finishing fourth this year, my last season as a professional,” Nibali said.
“I rode my last race last week and so I’m still looking at the route with the eyes of a rider. It feels…
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