Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali, 33, after his recent victory at Milan-San Remo event, is now claiming that even thought he might win the Sunday’s Tour of Flanders event, he doesn’t want to jeopardize his entire season by becoming part of the event on April the 1st.
Since Milan-San Remo’s victory, Tour of Flandes is his first race and also first time for him to race on the Tour of Flanders’ cobbled roads.
Finally! Cycling Christmas is almost near! ? #RVV #RVV18 pic.twitter.com/uNFAmw0Bc0
— Ronde Van Vlaanderen (@RondeVlaanderen) March 31, 2018
“I made requests in the past to race Flanders, but it didn’t happen. Iam going to race here with much attention. There are often crashes here that could impede the rest of your season. For sure, I won’t risk it out there,” Nibali said.
The chance to celebrate his recent victory came as a surprise to the Italian who didn’t start this season with the right foot. He had to miss the Vuelta a San Juan due to sickness right before the beginning of the tour.
Despite his bad luck, after the Milan-San Remo win, many believe Nibali should become part of the Tour of Flanders since he is definitely among the race favourites, despite being his first time on the event.
“I don’t think I am a favourite. The favourites are Philippe Gilbert, Sep Vanmarcke and Peter Sagan, these are the men for Flanders. The important thing will be to get to these climbs with team-mates who can guide me, and then try to do a good race. It will be hard to do well in my first year on the race, but on the face of it, it’s a race that I like,” Nibali added.
?? #RVV18
? The Shark @vincenzonibali and his teammates on the cobbles ?
? Check out some other footage from today’s recon pic.twitter.com/tvtAaUywQY— Team Bahrain Merida (@Bahrain_Merida) March 30, 2018
