Tour of Spain 2013 Results: Time Trial Win Makes Vincenzo Nibali Huge Favourite

This year’s Vuelta a Espana has once again taken on a familiar look as Vincenzo Nibali reclaimed the leader’s red jersey after coming fourth in the individual time trial.

Despite the best efforts of Christopher Horner, Wednesday’s event was always going to run in the favour of Italian Nibali, a rider more suited to the speed-based tests than Horner’s climbing attributes are.

Recording a time of one minute and 25 seconds, Nibali finished behind Domenico Pozzovivo, Tony Martin and winner Fabian Cancellara to jump back into the overall lead by a margin of 33 seconds.

Some normality was restored to the positions lower down the standings, too, as Nicolas Roche jumped back into second spot and Alejandro Valverde into third, both at the expense of American Horner.

Nibali has never looked too far out of the running for top spot, either. Even after Horner’s Stage 10 victory sent the Astana Pro Team representative slightly down the ranks, The Shark exuded a sense of calm, reported by Cycling News’s Alasdair Fotheringham as saying:

"

I always want the lead. But Horner was ahead, I knew it was going to be hard to catch him. But I think that’s fine, because there’s still a long, long way to go. We’ve got a nice rest day now, but then there’s a time trial straight after that.

"

From this quote it seems evident just how much of an advantage the 2013 Giro d’Italia winner knew he had over his nearest rivals.

An aura of confidence that, in retrospect, looks deserved.

Now, after passing the halfway mark in the tour, it’s a story of whether or not Nibali can ensure that standard is maintained for the coming trials.

There are 10 stages left to ride on the Tour of Spain, seven of which are mountainous climbs, the sort that Nibali hasn’t coped with too well over the last week-and-a-half.

This, of course, means that in the three flatter stages, where Nibali will be able to exert his strengths, he must take full advantage so the distance between him and his fellow power players will be increased—not cut down.

Having said that, Nibali is more than capable of doing just that. After all, it’s a craft he’s been showcasing all year long.