Nibali was angry and disappointed after the crash according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, blaming both Caleb Ewan and his Astana team. He was left waiting in the road for a new bike and suggested none of his teammates waited for him at the back of the peloton when he got back on.
“The crash was the fault of Caleb Ewan who did a crazy, aggressive move. Look at the video and you can understand why riders got hurt. Yet he’s still in the race,” Gazzetta dello Sport report Nibali as saying. “I went looking for him while I was waiting for a new bike but fortunately for him he’d already got going. I wanted to speak to him…”
After the crash Nibali was seen standing in the road waiting for a new bike, as most other riders quickly got going again.
“It’s fair to say that things didn’t go right. Everyone saw how long I had to wait,” he said.
“Everybody was shouting in the radio: Aru, Aru, Aru…. Did you see who eventually gave me a bike? Martinelli. And how much time passed before I could start chasing? I made a mistake but I would perhaps have gone home anyway. What was the point in staying?”
“As I said, I was left abandoned. Even if I was feeling good. I was hoping to get through the first week without losing a lot of time. It’s frustrating that I’m going home without being able to demonstrate anything. But I’ve got to keep my mouth shut.” ]