Vincenzo Nibali hits ground running in Giro d’Italia time trial

BUDAPEST HUNGARY MAY 07 Vincenzo Nibali of Italy and Team Astana Qazaqstan sprints during the 105th Giro dItalia 2022 Stage 2 a 92km individual time trial stage from Budapest to Budapest ITT Giro WorldTour on May 07 2022 in Budapest Hungary Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Qazaqstan) finished 12th on stage 2 time trial (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

Vincenzo Nibali’s reputation at the Giro d’Italia has been forged largely through his feats of endurance in the third week, most notably his dramatic, two-part fight back in the Alps in the dying days of the 2016 race.

Small wonder, then, that Nibali seemed almost surprised at his 12th-place finish in Saturday’s short stage 2 time trial in Budapest. At 37 years of age, the Italian hardly expected to cope so smoothly with the repeated accelerations required by the 9.2km course, but he limited his losses on winner Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) to 19 seconds and gained time on a clutch of overall contenders.

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Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.