Vincenzo Nibali imposed his dominance on the Tour de France when he won today's mountain stage in commanding fashion and took over the yellow jersey. However, he refused speculation that his victory was more based on the absence of Alberto Contador and Chris Froome than his own strength, pointing out that he already had a decent advantage before the former crashed out of the race.

Vincenzo Nibali is the odds-on favourite to win the Tour de France after he took another big stage victory in today's mountain stage of the Tour de France. The Italian was in a class of his own on the final climb and easily left all his rivals behind to reclaim the yellow jersey.

Most agree that Nibali will be hard to beat in this race but many are also pointing out that the two pre-race favourites have crashed out of the race. While overjoyed to have won the stage, the Astana leader refuses the suggestion and points to his careful preparation as the reason for his success.

"This is a wonderful victory, thanks to a great team work, especially by Michele Scarponi in the finale," he said. "It's been a very demanding stage with the fog and the rain after ten days of hard racing. This was the hardest stage I've ever done in a Grand Tour, with seven climbs and so many crashes.

"As I crossed the line, I've dedicated it to my baby girl. I speak with my wife every day on the phone and she told me that Emma becomes silent and opens her eyes wide when she hears my voice on TV.

"I feel sorry for Alberto Contador. He crashed just in front of me and I've been scared that I'd go down as well but I don't know why he crashed. I've just seen that it was a heavy fall. We stopped pedaling for a while. I spoke with Richie Porte, I also spoke with my team car, but Tony Martin was 4.30 ahead, so we've had to ride again.

"The stage had started very well for us. The breakaway suited us. At that point of the stage, it was Lotto controlling the race. In the first downhill, Kwiatkowski and Martin rode away. The gap was precisely let by Contador and Sergio Paulinho. In the following downhill, we were there to try and take the race in hand.

"Since Arenberg [stage 5], we have always controlled and I was expecting attacks from Contador, so in the next stages, I'll look at controlling again but without him. I'll try to keep the yellow jersey but I won't be left without rivals. Richie Porte and Alejandro Valverde are up there. I'll have to handle my advantage.

"I think that my performance today was of a very high level, similar to the 2013 Giro d'Italia. With my coach Paolo Slongo, we've prepared for the Tour at perfection in order to reach the top level here. Before the Dauphiné, I went to Tenerife for a training camp with all my team-mates for the Tour. We did an intense work there.

"At the Dauphiné, I was well but I didn't have the condition to challenge the best riders. After the Dauphiné, I didn't go home. I went to the Passo San Pellegrino to do a specific work. I've done some changes of rhythm in the climbs behind Slongo's motorbike because I knew I would have to fight against Contador in steep uphill finishes here.

"Shall I win the Tour, it'll be difficult to say I win because Chris Froome and Contador have crashed. I already had a good lead and I was ready to fight in a big duel with Alberto. Crashes are part of the sport. I've crashed myself many times in the past as well. It's a pity that the Tour has lost two major protagonists. I hope it's not too bad for Alberto. I wish him the best."