Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, France: Tour de France contender Vincenzo Nibali has taken a swipe at race leader Bradley Wiggins after accusing the Englishman of showing a lack of respect at the end of the tenth stage on Wednesday.
Nibali started the first of three days in the Alps two minutes 23 seconds behind the yellow jersey holder and went on the attack on a long descent in a bid to close the gap.
The Italian, a former Tour of Spain winner, was eventually brought to heel thanks to the hard-driving pace of Wiggins’ Sky team before the final, short climb of the 194.5km stage from Macon.
After they finished the race in the same group over three minutes behind French stage winner Thomas Voeckler of Europcar, Nibali was incensed.
He claims Wiggins stared at him in a disrespectul manner and made a rude gesture with his hand.
Although admitting Sky are “really strong at the moment”, Nibali said: “He should show more respect for his competitors.
“Wiggins looked at me at the finish and I really did not like the way he did it. He also gestured with his hand in a rude way.”
Despite his current position in the race, Wiggins has yet to win one of cycling’s Grand Tours while Nibali won the Tour of Spain in 2010 and was third in the Giro d’Italia last season.
Wiggins finished fourth overall on the Tour de France in 2009, flopped outside the top 20 in 2010 and crashed out of the race on stage seven in 2011.
Months after that setback he finished third overall at the Tour of Spain, where he was just getting over the fractured collarbone he sustained during the Tour.
Posts on the Twitter micro-blogging site have compared Sky’s impressive displays of fast pace-setting to the US Postal team of Lance Armstrong, the seven-time champion who has recently been charged with being part of a major doping conspiracy.
But Wiggins, a three-time Olympic track champion, said the doubts about him and his team are wide of the mark.
“I don’t feel that I should have to sit here and justify everything I’ve done to the world,” he said.
“I’m not just some [expletive] rider who’s come from nowhere.”
Nibali’s key helper, Italian teammate Ivan Basso, said they were struggling to find a way around Sky.
“Wiggins and Sky remind me of the years when Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong were on the Tour,” Basso said.
“They are so strong that it’s always difficult to attack. You can gain 500 metres, but they always catch you at the end.”
Wiggins says he underestimates no one on the race and admits that he can have one bad day and his dream could be over.
For the remainder, Nibali says the Englishman should be more humble.
“In cycling, fortunes can change quickly, for everyone,” said Nibali.
“He’s a good rider, but I’m talking about respect, about tradition. In cycling, riders have always shown a great respect towards each other. We are not footballers.”
Meanwhile, Voeckler, of the Europcar team, capped an impressive game of cat and mouse with several rivals in the closing kilometres to claim his first victory of this year’s race and third of his career.
Italian Michele Scarponi (Lampre) finished second three seconds behind with German veteran Jens Voigt (RadioShack) third, seven seconds back.
Wiggins retained his 1:53 overnight lead on BMC leader Cadel Evans, with Sky teammate Chris Froome still third overall at 2:07 and Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) at 2:23.
Nibali was one of two riders, along with Belgian Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto) to try and attack Wiggins in a bid to close their respective deficits.
Van den Broeck tried twice on the 17km climb to the summit of the Col du Grand Colombier, and finally managed to distance the yellow jersey pack after racing ahead with Frenchman Pierre Rolland.
He came over the finish 32 seconds ahead of Wiggins’ group, but is still 4:48 behind the Englishman overall.
“I have to take every opportunity,” said the Belgian.
“Some guys just don’t realise there are only three real stages left to try and close the gap. If you simply let Sky set the pace, we have no chance of overtaking them.”
