The Battle For Italy

Vincenzo ‘The Shark’ Nibali and Fabio ‘The Knight’ Aru are finally on opposing teams at the Giro, and it has got Felix Lowe all excited.

The world has gone Giro crazy. No fewer than three books on the history of La Corsa Rosa have been published recently in honour of Italy’s Grand Tour, which celebrates its 100th edition this May (and can presumably expect a nice telegram from the Queen).

Continuing the finest tradition of Italian nicknames – responsible for such gems as ‘The Trumpeter of Cittiglio’ (five-time Giro winner Alfredo Binda), ‘The Squirrel of the Canals’ (double-winner Carlo Galetti), ‘The Lion of Mugello’ (1957 winner Gastone Nencini) and ‘The Peacock of Sandrigo’ (Pippo Pozzato, er, 84th in 2005) – this year’s race pits ‘The Shark of the Straight’ (two time maglia rosa Vincenzo Nibali) directly against ‘The Knight of the Four Moors’ (2015 runner-up Fabio Aru) for the very first time.

Better than that, the 2017 Giro transports these former teammates to their own natural habitats: three stages in Aru’s island-of-birth Sardinia (whose flag bears the Quattro Mori of Aru’s moniker) followed by two in Sicily, including a finish in Nibali’s native Messina overlooking the aforementioned ‘Straight’.