Giro d'Italia (2013) Photos; Stage 15: Cesana Torinese → Col du Galibier, 149 km

A Sicilian in the cold: “With the years I’ve come to realize that I don’t ride well in the cold. I get most of my results in May and June, in the heat. But you don’t notice the cold and the rain when you’re leading the race. It’s worse when you’re in the peloton. Today, the sun was shining, it was a mythical stage, and I’m happy I made it all the way today.”

A win foretold? “To a degree, I planned today’s move. All Giro I had been hoping to get into the breakaway on one of the really mythical stages. I told my father and friends that I hoped to get into a fugaccia [a special break] in a tappaccia [a special stage]. I’ve never before felt what Vincenzo [Nibali] feels, riding these stages at the front. Today I felt it.”

Pantani Stage: “In the final kms, you saw me crying, but for the last 3 kms I was crying inside. I knew I could win the stage. I thought of the coincidence of finishing near Marco’s memorial. We share the same birthday. I thought of him and asked him for the strength to finish. Someone said to me today, a circle is closed. A year ago I quit the race on Stage 15, today I won Stage 15. I hope that from now a new career starts for me.”

The Best Nibali ever? “I think I have the same form as I had last year at the Tour, but the Tour is different from the Giro. At the Tour there were fewer possibilities. The finishes were the bottom of hills, there were two time trials totalling 110km. Here the race suits my style.”

Giro d'Italia (2013) Photos; Stage 15: Cesana Torinese → Col du Galibier, 149 km