Nibali lands overall Trentino win

Italian Vincenzo Nibali underlined his form ahead of the three-week Giro d'Italia by winning the final stage and taking overall victory at the 37th edition of the Giro del Trentino on Friday. Overnight leader Maxime Bouet went into the fourth and final stage, held over 166.8 km between Arco and Sega di Ala, with a 3min 19sec lead on Belarusian Kanstantsin Siutsou of Team Sky and 3:56 on Astana team leader Nibali. However the Frenchman who rides for AG2R, struggled early on the tough, 11km final ascent on which reigning Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins fell off the pace after suffering mechanical problems. In the end, Bouet trailed over the finish line 4:42 behind Nibali, missing the title by just under a minute. Nibali completed the five-stage, four-day race in a total time of 17hr 49min 11sec, with fellow Italian Mauro Santambrogio second at 21sec and Bouet third overall at 55. Former Tour de France champion, Australian Cadel Evans, was eighth overall at 2:18 having come over the finish line one minute behind Nibali. "Winning on a climb like this is the biggest thing for me right now," said Nibali, who finished third overall at last year's Tour de France behind Wiggins and Briton Chris Froome. "There is still a couple of weeks to the Giro, and Wiggins remains my main rival, but I saw both (Cadel) Evans and (Ivan) Basso in clear progression." Wiggins, who lost precious time after angrily throwing his malfunctioning bike to the side of the road around 5km from the finish, trailed home 1:39 behind Nibali to finish fifth overall at 1:40. Sky team sports director Marcus Ljungqvist rued the lost chance to win the race, but is satisfied Wiggins is in form ahead of his bid for victory at the Giro. "It was some bad luck there for Brad on the climb," he said. "He was almost back to the lead group when Nibali attacked. "That was always going to happen and you really can't afford to give the top guys any time. In the end he expended a lot of energy but it's just one of those things. It was a great effort. "We need to focus on the good things from this race and that is two stage wins and some good work and form building ahead of the Giro. With some rest for a few guys we will be ready for May." The Giro d'Italia, a major objective this season for Wiggins and Nibali, will be held May 4-25. Source: AFP