It was more of an instruction than a question. 'On Sunday, just past the finish line in Cogne,' a TV reporter said, 'I'm going to go home.'

Even in the final days of his Giro d'Italia career, his hopes for his hometown showed little sign of receding.

"I'll try, I'll try," Nibali smiled. 'Of course I want to leave my mark, but that won't be easy because I'm at the top of the GC. Yesterday, as soon as I made a move, (Jai) Hindley was on my wheel. He was ready right away and didn't leave me any space.

On Sunday at Valle d'Aosta, Gruppo looked almost punch-drunk after the relentless pounding that had taken place in the hills around Turin 24 hours earlier.

On the first stage of the Alps, a détente within the pink jersey group saw everyone except overall winner Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) arrive in Cogne nearly 8 minutes behind stage winner Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo).

"It was a strange stage. I felt good after yesterday, but the climb up here to Cogne was very fast with a tailwind and it was hard to keep the wheels on," Nibali said. Ineos had everything under control, and there were so many riders on the Bora. It was pointless to attack today."

He said.

When Nibali visited Messina on stage 5 and announced his retirement at the end of the season, it initially seemed as if his race would serve as a farewell event. It appeared that the two-time champion's contribution to the race, who had already seemingly disappeared from overall contention, might be limited to a cameo appearance in the break for a memorable victory.

However, the sure-footed ride Nibali showed on stage 9 at Brockhaus took his race in a very different direction as he climbed the overall standings. His pedigree and relative proximity to the pink jersey meant that he could not afford to attack from a distance.

Still, few could have predicted that Nibali would be among the strongest riders on the Giro's toughest stage. But in Saturday's mini-mega-meet in Turin, the 37-year-old Nibali somehow summoned up his former vigor and rode to the finish with Calapaz and Hindley, currently in first and second place in the overall standings.

Nibali's performance level in this Giro was remarkable, even more so considering the complex preparation for the race. Nibali's spring campaign, which was scheduled to include the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, was interrupted by illness, ostensibly to free up Astana Cazacustan teammate Miguel Angel Lopez for the Giro. But when the Colombian retired early, Nibali returned to his familiar job of leading the pack.

"I noticed something changed after the first week," he said. It's true that we started the season a little late because of the COVID problem, so we had to stop and start preparing again in March," Nibali said. In the Giro I was a little bit behind the other riders. And - Niente - let's see what happens."

As the Giro enters its third and final rest day, Nibali's hold on a top-10 finish looks solid, as he is currently six minutes behind Alejandro Valverde in 11th place. The Sicilian's thoughts may rather be directed toward a further rise in the overall standings.

The third week of the modern Giro resembles the last six miles of a marathon.

The Giro resumes Tuesday with Mortirolo and Valrico di Santa Cristina in Tappone. Asked about the expected conditions, Nibali couldn't help but smile. He said, "The bad weather will certainly make things a little more difficult."