Here is the Shark who wins by waving his fin at the finish line in Andorra la Vella. A masterstroke, the one that Nibali pulls off in the last 500 meters with an extension that catches Froome, Chaves, Bardet on the counterattack. Sardinian Aru, who perhaps could have given Nibali a hard time, seemed almost afraid of ruining his former captain's masterpiece at Astana. The Vuelta promised entertainment and already on the third day it staged an exciting stage with the great protagonists battling it out. Starting with Chris Froome, super favorite on the eve that this Vuelta wants to win, after three second places, so much so that he made the sprint to pocket the seconds up for grabs at a flying finish line.
A trifle that allowed the Briton, third at the finish line preceded in the sprint by Nibali and David De la Cruz, to conquer the red jersey with a two-second lead over a trio made up of De la Cruz, Nicolas Roche and Teejay Van Garderen. Nibali, thanks to the winner's rebate, further reduced the disadvantage in the team prologue time trial: he's there, fifth, just 10” behind Froome, ahead of Adam Yates by a second. Aru, sixth yesterday in Andorra, is seventh 38” behind the red jersey. In the first major mountain stage, on the Pyrenean hills of Rabassa and Alto de la Comella, Froome came out with shakes, especially on the last ascent of the day, which have not been seen for some time, not even in the Tour. frenetic pace that immediately made Alberto Contador suffer, unable to keep up with the pace of Froome, but also of Bardet and Aru himself.
At the finish line in Andorra, while defending himself with the pride of the old champion, the Spaniard accused a delay of 2'33” from the leaders. The three weeks of dream, announced by the Pistolero on the day of the announcement of the retirement of the races, risk turning into a melancholy ordeal for him. Under Froome's action, not only Contador gave way but also other candidates for the podium such as Barguil, Zakarin, Meintjesv and Maika. Nibali himself showed some suffering on the Alto de la Comella due to the constant changes of pace impressed by the unleashed Froome but the Shark gave his best in the downhill: one km from the finish he grabbed the leading group led by Froome together with Pozzovivo and Van Garderen to then create the final masterpiece, a success that seems like a photocopy of the coup taken by the Jaws at the finish line in Sheffield in his victorious 2014 Tour.
