Vincenzo Nibali's power output on Tour de France cobbles 'more than mountains'

Astana trainer Paolo Slongo talks to Cycling Weekly about Vincenzo Nibali's power output during Tour de France stage five - Nibali used more power than during an Alpine mountains stage

Vincenzo Nibali on stage five of the 2014 Tour de France

(Image credit: Graham Watson)

Vincenzo Nibali spent more energy and gained more time in the Arenberg cobbled stage than he would have had he raced a mountain stage in the Tour de France, but it was worth it. Team Astana's Sicilian holds the yellow jersey by a minute and a half on most of his rivals and nearly a minute more on two-time winner Alberto Contador.

"If you consider a summit finish or a time trial stage, you'd have trouble getting time gaps like that," Astana's head trainer, Paolo Slongo told Cycling Weekly. "Two minutes on your rivals up a climb?! Maybe you can take 20 to 30 seconds, but two minutes is a lot."

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Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.