Cannondale coach Stefano Zanatta says that Vincenzo Nibali’s success is down to his ability to unplug both before and after races.

“A half-hour after the stage he won’t even know where he is,” Cannondale’s Stefano Zanatta (Nibali’s former team director at Liquigas) told Cycling Weekly. “You have to tell him, ‘Vincenzo, it’s time to go to anti-doping or give an interview because you won.’”

The 29-year-old first showed his Grand Tour promise at Liquigas, where Zanatta oversaw him wear the white jersey in the Tour de France, win the Vuelta a Espana and lead his home Grand Tour, the Giro.

“Ivan Basso or the others were already thinking about the next days, what happened in the race, but it appeared that Vincenzo did not even know where he was after the stage,” added Zanatta. “‘Hey, you need to do this interview,’ we’d tell him. He’d question why and not even realise that he was in the leader’s jersey."

“His secret is recuperation. Vincenzo is able to recover in the 30 minutes ahead of a time trial or when he gets in the team car after the podium… Luckily, he’s able to just pull the plug out and be in his own world to relax. I’d often see him sleeping on the bus during the ride to the start. He has that ability that the others don’t have.”

“He had the white jersey at the Tour in 2008, but that didn’t bother him. It’s like he can just shut off and nothing worries him,” Zanatta continued.

“He’s able to manage the stress well. Sure, wearing the yellow jersey is not the same as the white, the pink in the Giro, or the red in the Vuelta, but he’s matured and, best of all, has the ability to recover right away after a stage.”

Nibali now leads the Tour by a massive 4-37 and while Zanatta thinks he is almost at the finish line despite there still being another week left, he knows that the race is not won yet.

“The only way for him to lose is by making a mistake. He has the advantage.”