Nibali Week: Let’s Talk About That 2014 Tour de France Win

In the first two installments of Nibali Week, I tried to regurgitate the early stages of Vincenzo Nibali’s fascinating career. Maybe it was a bit too much “and then THIS happened!”, but with Nibali, it’s important to set the context for his crowning achievements if we are to truly celebrate his life’s work. Through 2013, which he ended as arguably the #1 cyclist in the world, he was:

• a guy whose motor might be underestimated, but whose will to win combined nicely with that motor to drive him higher than the doubters would expect;
• a winner for two different teams, steadily progressing toward (but probably a cut below) the highest echelon of the sport, that of legit Tour de France victors; and
• A guy on a team that maybe won’t be confused for the old Postal train, but which was pretty well positioned to support him.

And then he went and won the 2014 Tour de France.

On a number of levels, this was a fascinating victory, the likes of which we rarely see and might not see again in my lifetime (diet and exercise notwithstanding). Let’s take a quick look back at how the race unfolded for Nibali before we dive in.

How He Won

The 2014 Tour was Chris Froome’s first chance to show that his initial victory the previous year was no fluke, and coming in he seemed to have little standing in his way, aside from expectations. The previous year’s surprise protagonist, Nairo Quintana, opted to ride the Giro (which he won) instead of the Tour, eliminating Froome’s biggest danger in the high mountains. After that, there was an aging Alberto Contador, who was still winning Vueltas (he’d bag that last chip months after the Tour), but Froome had dispatched the former winner with ease in both the Pyrénées and Alps in 2013. Nibali probably ranked next among the favorites, because after that came fading stars like Valverde and Schleck, and a few of the usual suspects like Thibaut Pinot, Tejay van Garderen and Jurgen Van Den Broeck. I don’t remember feeling all that bullish about Nibali — a Tour? Really? — so suffice to say, it was Froome’s to lose.

Which he did, on the fourth stage when he hit the deck for the first time, a situation he compounded on the fifth stage, a Paris-Roubaix-style pavé course, and before the race hit the ¹⁄₄ mark Froome was riding off in the team car. Nibali, meanwhile,…