Vincenzo Nibali got safely through a very nervous and stressful sixth stage of the Tour de France but the Italian is already looking ahead to the weekend when the peloton reaches the Vosges. He expects the attacking to start as soon as the road ramps upwards.

Vincenzo Nibali made a big coup yesterday and finds himself in a better position than he could have imagined as the first week of the Tour de France is about to come to a close. Today he safely negotiated a windy stage in Northern France that could potentially have been dangerous.

“They give us respect in the peloton because we have the yellow jersey, but that’s all," his teammate Maxim Iglinskiy said. "When you ride at the front every day to defend the leader it’s still hard work."

“It wasn't a quiet stage at all," Nibali said. "On paper it should have been like that but nervousness was always there in the peloton because of the wind. In the finale in particular, we could feel it but I was well covered by my team.

“Today was very nervous and the stress was extreme. The team protected me well, and they’re doing everything to protect me from a crash. A crash right now would be disastrous. We saw what happened to Froome, and it’s too bad he’s out of the race, but that shows that it can happen to anyone.”
 

"This morning I was happy to see myself in the front page of L'Equipe and other newspapers. It showed that we achieved something big yesterday but now, I still want to take it day by day and keep my feet on the ground.

"I'm asked to win again tomorrow as there's a hill in the finishing town but I'll have to take into account all the elements of the race. I'll draw the conclusions of the first week of racing in Nancy."

Nibali expects to come under the attack this weekend when the peloton hits the Vosges.

“I know my rivals will be coming for me,” he said. “I have a nice advantage, and I can use that to my benefit, but I know my rivals will be aiming for my yellow jersey.

“The stage to Belles Filles is the first real hard stage we’ll face, and I know riders like Contador and Porte will try to attack me. I will not just sit back. If I have good legs, who is to say I will not attack as well? What’s sure is I can use my lead to my advantage.”