Vincenzo Nibali has talked to Cyclingnews about his rivals at this 99th Giro d'Italia. The Astana rider explained that Esteban Chaves is one of best climbers in the peloton and he has the possibility to fill Mikel Landa's shoes.

"I’m really sorry for Mikel but I’m sure Mikel will bounce back because he’s a good guy," the Sicilian said. "The day after the rest day can sometimes be a problem. We’re used to a specific physical routine in Grand Tours and so if you don’t do things right, then you risk losing minutes on a stage when it starts with a climb like yesterday’s stage did. Last year I had a similar problem but I was a fortunate to suffer on an easier stage which only had a climb in the finale. I managed to survive and limit the damage. Yesterday’s stage was hard and so quickly revealed Mikel’s problems. When he was dropped he opted to quit, I can understand that. It was a tough moment for him.”

After eleven stages, Nibali picked the Orica GreenEDGE rider as the candidate to deliver some great performances in high mountain stages. "I’ve noticed that Chaves is riding well and he could fill Landa’s shoes. Perhaps Majka and Kruijswijk too but Chaves has looked good so far on the climbs. The loss of Landa doesn’t change much for me, there’s still a lot of pressure on my shoulders and expectations are high. I’m going to keep my feet on the ground and be happy with whatever final results comes along. I’ll simply fight till the end and race carefully while staying focused", Nibali concluded.