Vincenzo Nibali on His Legendary Sanremo Victory

As the dust settles on his career it becomes clearer and clearer quite how extraordinary Vincenzo Nibali’s career was: 4 grand tour victories, 3 monuments, 2 Italian national championships and countless other iconic moments that may not have resulted in victory but will remain in the memory of fans forever such as the Olympic road race in Rio. But amongst all successes his victory in San Remo remains particularly special for Tifosi, a masterclass in not just strength but also intelligence, courage and tactical acumen. On the eve of the 2025 edition of Milan San Remo, we sat down with him to discuss his history at the race, his victory and what advice he’d offer Tom Pidcock on how to win it this year.

So before the race you had no thought of being able to win it? You hadn’t visualized a potential victory? 

Well after Tirreno Adriatico, which is more than 800km of racing, I went home to recover and sort out my legs. But even on the first day after the race when I went out for a ride I felt that my legs were speaking another language compared to the week before. They’d suddenly changed. I was having a great supercompensation.
After a race like Tirreno, if you’ve worked well and know how to take advantage of it, you can have a supercompensation. One of my strengths as a rider had always been the use of this supercompensation, which is the art of pushing yourself to the right limit to be able to increase your form afterwards. It’s something that if you know how to use it can give incredible results, like when you see riders who have just finished the Tour de France go to the Classica San Sebastian and they are flying, or at the Olympics… Grand Tour riders in particular know best how to exploit the supercompensation.
So I felt good, but still I didn’t really want to race San Remo because that year the management had organized a training camp for the team to go to for four days before the race and I didn’t feel like leaving home again. But in the end they convinced and I went to Sanremo and trained with the team and Mohoric and Colbrelli. When Colbrelli attacked I replied, then I’d attack again… I remember that after one of these moments he turned and looked at me and we understood each other, without speaking. He was in good shape, but I was too…

Did your previous experiences at the race (podium 2012) give you the confidence to think you could win?  

In the group I’d ask the older guys how they thought it could be won. ‘Can you win it with an attack on the descent of the Poggio’ I’d ask and they’d always say ‘no, not even Savoldelli was able to do that’. So every year I raced it (and I’d raced it ten times before I won it) I’d try to attack in a different point: Poggio, Cipressa, descent, 150 km from the end… In 2012 I remember I’d already decided where I wanted to attack so I was going up and down the group before talking to everybody, asking them who they think looked good. I asked Pozzato who looked good, he said Cancellara. He asked me who I thought looked good and I said Gerrans is just pedalling way too well… Even though I knew it he still beat me in the sprint!

What mistakes had you learned from in previous editions of the race that would help you win this time? 

One thing I did in 2018 was I totally snobbed all pre-race events; the presentation, the meet and greet with the mayor of Milan… I had a pre-race build up that was totally relaxed. I didn’t feel the weight of expectation on me.
Also I knew that if I had an advantage at the top of the Poggio I couldn’t do the descent at full gas because I’d already tried that one year and since it’s a technical descent you spend too much energy accellerating out of each corner and you arrive at the bottom cooked. So I knew I had to do the descent fast but without accelerating too hard out of the corners. Also: you have to memorize the descent of the Poggio because every corner looks like you need to break when you first come into it but actually it opens up on the other side. Every year before you race it you should refresh your memory by doing it until you’ve memorized it.

In your opinion is it possible to win Milan – San Remo without a strong team? 

Yes, because other teams can do the dirty work for you. Though when I won in 2018 the team was extremely strong.

What makes it so difficult to win more than once (since 2010 no rider has won it twice)? 

The level is always extremely high and everybody wants to win it. But today, with the way its raced there are maybe less riders that can win it than before…

Why is it that good legs are never enough at San Remo?  

San Remo is the most technical monument. To win it requires creativity, the ability to seize the moment. You cannot allow yourself to decide in advance where you will attack. For example one year I had decided that I had to wait and only attack on the Poggio. So I waited, waited, waited. Then on the Poggio I wasn’t able to launch my attack. So you need to know how to improvise, you need to be able to pay maximum attention at all times because things can change at a moment’s notice.

What special characteristics does a rider need to have to win San Remo? 

Creativity, concentration, improvisation.

What advice would you give Tom Pidcock on how to win San Remo this year? 

Follow Van der Poel or Pogacar. He is the lesser favourite of the three and needs to attack after them. When he follows their attacks he needs to try to be ever so slightly conservative in order to be able to attack them again. It’s very hard. I managed to do it a few times in my career. On the descent at Lombardia, at Sheffield in the Tour de France…