The energy is channelled through these huge hands. The man with the lean figure, 65 kilograms spread over 1.81 metres tall, his dark hair cut at an angular angle, drums his fingers on the helmet in his lap; a gift from sponsor Limar for the upcoming celebration of the day. The inscription on the shell of the head protection reads: "Vincenzo Nibali - 8.10.2022: The shark closes the curtain."
Vincenzo Nibali - the last appearance
It is the date of the last race for the most successful Italian professional cyclist of our time, who is one of only seven cyclists to have won all three major national tours, the Tour, Giro and Vuelta. The last major appearance of the man they have christened "Lo Squalo di Messina", the shark of Messina, because of his aggressive riding style and his origins in Sicily. But Nibali will have to wait until he can use his energy for the last time in what he does best: cycling.
Now, the day before the race, he is sitting somewhat tensely and impatiently in the garden of Le Vaccherie, a high-end restaurant just outside Bergamo, and is supposed to talk - when the camera is finally rolling. He is supposed to talk about his time as a professional cyclist and his last foray into the 116th edition of the Tour of Lombardy - although interviews are not his favourite part of his job as a professional cyclist. And actually, he thinks, everything has been said.
Prontissimo
His decision had been clear for some time: shortly before his 38th birthday on 14 November, he wanted to call it a day on his racing bike - after 18 seasons. The decision was made last winter, announced on 11 May after the finish of the Giro stage in his home town of Messina, with tears in his eyes. This was followed by a farewell tour over the Italian boot at the Giro. Since then, there have been many last times as a professional cyclist, many farewell interviews. Now it's time to say goodbye to the farewell speeches. Is he ready for his last big performance? "Prontissimo," he replies. Bereiter is not possible.
The shark - less voracious
It is somehow a coincidence and yet a twist of fate that the Tour of Lombardy, the last World Tour race of the season, is the stage on which the final curtain falls for Nibali. This is where he celebrated his "victory of the heart", as he explains. It was in 2015, a difficult year for him, when, after his victory in the 2014 Tour de France, he was unable to fulfil the huge expectations at home.
The darling of the masses became a victim of his own success. If you win once, you should always win. But in 2015, he only finished fourth in the Tour - too little for critical observers after winning the previous year. "I can now admit that I suffered from the pressure and expectations," he said in a farewell interview on the cycling website cyclingnews.com. In addition, rival Chris Froome had come down hard on him after his stage win in La Toussuire: He, Nibali, had used a defect in him, then in the yellow jersey, to attack.
"I am disappointed by his choice of words. It was too harsh to be repeated here," said the Italian at the time. The Sicilian was offended. A short time later, he was dishonourably dismissed from the Vuelta after being filmed by helicopter cameras as he allowed himself to be pulled back into the race hanging on to the support car.
Within a few weeks, the reputation of the celebrated sportsman was severely damaged. At least that's how the sensitive professional cyclist felt. "Massacrato" - massacred - was how the critics labelled him at the time. Unjustly, as he believes. The man who was celebrated for his aggression had to defend his reputation. And he did. Nibali got on his bike, trained like a madman in his native Sicily - and triumphed over his critics at the end of the 2015 season with his victory in Lombardy.
Vincenzo Nibali: Triumph at the Tour of Lombardy 2015
On the descent from the Civiglio, he catapulted down the valley like a predatory fish on the prowl from the leading group, nestled himself tightly on the top tube - which was still permitted at the time - and raced towards victory in an almost suicidal manner. Several times he scraped his knee just past the crash barriers and shot through a gap barely as wide as the handlebars between the accompanying motorbike and a wall. He won the most mountainous classic of the year with a downhill attack.
Once again, Nibali had surprised, shown something new and entertained the fans. And above all: the proud Sicilian saw his honour restored. Perhaps Nibali's career was also a battle for love, for hearts - he reveals this when he quotes great words from his mentors.
Compatriot Ivan Basso. Giro winner in 2006 and 2010, had drummed into him the most memorable words of his career, says Nibali: "One Giro victory is not enough. If you want to win people's hearts, you have to win twice." Doggedly and from an almost hopeless position, he fought his way into the pink jersey on the final stages in 2016 - for the second time since 2013 - and won the hearts back.
Valverde and Nibali are two very great riders who are retiring and leaving gaps.
Then the final curtain rises for the tifosi's favourite: the almost 38-year-old stands in the morning sun on the small stage behind the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, almost a little embarrassed, while the speaker plays audio reports of his successes for him once again. "The Tour of Lombardy is a race that I have dreamed of since I was a boy and that has given me immense pleasure," says the two-time winner during the presentation.
Farewell greeting in Bergamo
Meanwhile, people crowd the steps of Porta Nuova, the staff of the city's public transport company come out of their offices; sitting on their fathers' shoulders, children film with smartphones, all of them not yet born when Nibali began his career as a professional cyclist in 2005 in the Fassa Bortolo jersey. Almost the entire city of Bergamo seems to have gathered here today for a farewell salute at the start.
Friendly applause from thousands of hands echoes from the classicist façades as Nibali rolls into the front row of the race, past the trellis of his professional colleagues, arm in arm with his long-time rival Alejandro Valverde - the 42-year-old Spaniard is also doing his farewell lap in Lombardy. The clapping sounds rather sad, appropriate for the farewell, it is more of a tribute and honour than a cheer. An era is coming to an end.
"Two very great racers who are retiring. They will certainly leave a gap in their teams and nations," says Simon Geschke, the 36-year-old professional cyclist from Freiburg, about the scenery at the start. Then it's off to the 253-kilometre distance between Bergamo and Como, peppered with 4600 metres of climbing, roughly the format of this year's queen stage of the Tour de France. The pace is high right from the start, no consideration is given to older men on the ups and downs in the hinterland of Bergamo and on to Lago di Como, up to the Madonna del Ghisallo.
Thank you, Hai!
For hours, people have been sitting on the little wall in the sun along the mountain road by the pilgrimage church, waiting for the shark. Farewell greetings accompany him on the way. "Thank you, Shark!", "You are unique, Vincenzo," is written on posters, "the last champion" shouts one. Everywhere along the route, inflated rubber sharks pop out of the crowd.
Everyone is waiting for the great champion's final passage. And for one last big surprise. "His greatest skill: he's always inventive. He does unexpected things like he did in San Remo - he's hard to judge," emphasises Enrico Gasparotto, who was Nibali's team-mate several times. In 2018, the instinctive racer delivered his masterpiece at Milan-San Remo when he beat the sprinters with an audacious attack - in a combination of attacking lust uphill and breathtaking downhill skills on the Poggio.
Vincenzo's greatest skill: he is inventive in the race, does surprising things and is difficult to judge.
No shark attack
But before the final curtain falls for him, he is relegated to a supporting role. When his compatriot Matteo Fabbro, wearing the Bora-Hansgrohe jersey, gets to grips with the competition 20 kilometres before the finish on the Civiglio, which has an average gradient of almost ten per cent, the time has come for him to abdicate. Nibali had to let the lead group of around 20 riders go, in which long-time rival Valverde was able to hold on and eventually sprinted to the finish in sixth place. "The sprightliness really gets lost over the years - I can say that from my own experience at the age of 36," says Geschke, who would have expected Nibali to have a few more good years as a professional cyclist.
But the big stage is boarded by a new generation: UAE pro Davide Formolo steps up the pace on the permanently steep 400 metre climb to Civiglio, while his captain Tadej Pogacar does the rest. His only remaining rival Enric Mas attacks again and again - in vain.
The two-time Tour winner from Slovenia is hot on the Spaniard's heels and outsprints him in the final sprint. The 24-year-old Pogacar admires Nibali: "His victories at Milan-San Remo and the Tour de France, especially the stage over the cobbles, were very impressive, they are great memories for me. He had a fantastic career. It's a shame that he's leaving cycling." Nibali will finish with a lap of honour through the crowd on the final climb to San Fermo della Battaglia.
But even in the "distant future", the Sicilian completed his last working day in a more than respectable manner: 2:17 minutes behind, he reached the finish line on the lakeside promenade in Como in 24th place - greeted enthusiastically like a winner. "I enjoyed the race and the crowd. But unfortunately the legs didn't get me any further. I really want to thank everyone who saw me off and thanked me along the road," he says. And to his sporting heir Pogacar: "I've never seen such a talent - always and everywhere strong."
Nibali as a role model for other riders
The changing of the guard is complete - but Nibali has consciously or unconsciously built up his successors. "He motivated many cyclists for cycling. The way he rode the races was always spectacular. That's what I love about him," says Thibaut Pinot, who fought great duels with the Italian in Lombardy in recent years, in a sporting obituary in the French newspaper L'Equipe.
All of them were inspired by their departing colleague and his riding style - whether Pogacar, Pinot, Andrea Piccolo, the best-placed Italian at 21 years of age in eleventh place, or the young Marco Brenner from Augsburg, who completed the first Monument of his career in Lombardy and stormed up the Civiglio side by side with his great role model.
One last photo
At the end of a very long last working day, Nibali winds his way through the sea of people in the team car park on his racing bike, accompanied by cheers and brief stops for a photo with young fans. Kevin Mascetti and Gioele Longhi, two 18-year-old boys from Como, with hairy legs and wearing professional jerseys, are also waiting at the bus - they want one last photo, one last autograph from Nibali and have painted a large poster in the light blue colour of his current team Astana. In 2014, Kevin watched his compatriot win the Tour on television - until then, he had never watched a cycling race.
From then on, he was a cycling fan. "He's a showman on the bike," says Gasparotto about Nibali's riding style. One that inspires young racers and fans alike. In between his cycling forays, the Shark was usually calm, deeply relaxed and modest. "He doesn't feel so much stress and is always very relaxed. He can fall asleep in the team bus five minutes before the start of a Tour de France stage - incredible!" recalls Gasparotto.
A black day with consequences
Recently, however, the professional cyclist may have been more tense than many realised. He had endured pain, as Michele Pallini, the Italian physiotherapist in whose expert hands Shark's body had been in for many hours, told us - ever since that day in July 2018 when a careless fan rammed him off his bike on the final kilometres to Alpe d'Huez.
Nibali allowed himself to be lifted onto the bike and fought his way back to the top right up to the finish. The next day he had to abandon due to a vertebral injury. He then desperately tried to get himself in shape for his last lifelong dream - the rainbow jersey on the difficult World Championship course around Innsbruck. Three weeks after the momentous crash, he sat in the saddle at the Vuelta. In vain. World Championship rank 49, a disaster. After the crash at the Tour, Nibali was never quite his old self again, Pallini whispers; now he can say so.
It was the end of Nibali's run of bad luck in the national jersey - for a decade he was the Italians' great hope. But in 2013, as the top favourite at the home World Championships in Florence, he crashed on a rain-soaked downhill and finished fourth in the sprint for bronze against Valverde. In 2016, he skidded off his bike in the dangerous descent of the Olympic road race in the jungle of Rio de Janeiro while riding in a leading group of three - the result: a broken collarbone instead of a gold medal. If he could cross one day off his career, it would be the day in Alpe d'Huez, he said in his farewell interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. Nibali retires without success in the national jersey.
Who closes the gap?
His departure is momentous: "It is a great loss for Italian cycling. Italy will miss him. There will be no new Nibali," says Gasparotto, now sporting director at Bora-Hansgrohe. Who will inspire the Tifosi in the future, who will win for Italy? Perhaps Giulio Ciccone, whom they love because of his equally aggressive riding style, but who is still far from Nibali's calibre? Or Filippo Ganna, who set an impressive world hour record on the track in Grenchen, Switzerland, just a few hours after Nibali's last finish? Kevin and Gioele don't know the right answer to the question of who might attract them to the route of the Tour of Lombardy in the future.
The final word is spoken by the shark himself. Long-time companion, Gazzetta reporter Claudio Ghisalberti, asks him what he would say about his career in retrospect. "I did my job well," replies Nibali. Full stop. The curtain falls, a great stage worker steps down.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
