Monday 30 May 2016 14:02, UK
Vincenzo Nibali has revealed a stomach bug was behind the slump in form that left him almost five minutes off the overall lead at the Giro d’Italia.
The 31-year-old Italian fell to 4min 43sec adrift of the pink jersey when he lost 2min 10sec on stage 15's mountain time trial and then another 1min 47sec on stage 16's summit finish.
Nibali appeared to be out of contention and his Astana team even ran tests to see if he was suffering from a virus, but he then mounted a remarkable recovery on stages 19 and 20 to snatch the unlikeliest of overall victories.
He said: "Before the time trial I wasn't very well on account of intestinal problems, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want my rivals to know it.
"I had some intestinal problems, but I tried to put it to the back of my mind at the time. Maybe that was what weakened me slightly. But the rest day was useful for putting me right."
Although a return to health was key to Nibali's victory, just as important was the demise of previous pink jersey-wearer Steven Kruijswijk.
The Dutchman took a three-minute advantage into stage 19 but then crashed on the descent off the 2,744m-high Colle dell'Agnello and fell to third in the standings.
Nibali admitted his victory might not have been possible without Kruijswijk's crash, but he insisted he had already started to see weakness in the race leader.
"It would have been difficult," he added. "But I found myself in good shape.
"Kruijswijk crashed, but towards the summit of the Colle dell'Agnello, I noticed he was breathing heavily, so I put pressure on him climbing and then descending. Had I not done so, probably nothing would have happened.
"At the top of the Agnello, I realised I could turn it all around."
Nibali revealed he will now prepare to form part of Astana's line-up at the Tour de France, where Fabio Aru is expected to be team leader, before focusing on winning gold in the men's road race at the Olympic Games in Rio.
"The big objective is the Olympics," he said.
