Cycling: In recent weeks, this year's Tour winner, Vincenzo Nibali, has often been compared to his compatriot Marco Pantani. A comparison that is not flattering in every respect, in our opinion. After all, "il Pirata" always had a touch of madness about it - albeit the madness of an artist on a bike - which, however, resulted in his dying far too early in 2004 under mysterious circumstances.
Nonetheless, Nibali seems intent on continuing to feed these comparisons. In 1998, Pantani became the last rider to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in a calendar year. And that's exactly what Nibali is aiming for in 2015 as well. What previously only the greats of cycling, namely Faust Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Pantani managed to achieve, Nibali 2015 should secure its place in the Olympus of cycling.
Nibali knows it's no coincidence that only five riders in history have achieved this feat. “The combination of Giro and Tour victory is an ambitious goal, I know that; I'll definitely try," Nibali told Italian daily Il Messagero. "Competing at the highest level for months on end is not easy in today's cycling; but I want to face new challenges.”
The route for the 2015 Giro has not yet been decided, but if Nibali had one wish, the Giro organizers would have it include a stage on his home island of Sicily.
The only thing that is certain so far is that the Giro d'Italia 2015 (8th to 31st May) will start with a team time trial over 18 km between San Lorenzo al Mare and San Remo.