SPORTS Wednesday, January 3, 2018 23 Manama featuring on Nibali’s ahrain-Merida team manager calendar for the second Brent Copeland believes that year running as a build-up Bahrain-Merida’sB leader Vincenzo to a tilt at the rainbow Nibali can wear yellow again in Paris jersey in Innsbruck, when he rides this year’s Tour de Austria. France. “It was a decision After a disappointing showing in from the team and Tour de France 2017, Bahrain-Merida are throwing the main partners. everything at the French Grand Tour, Vincenzo asked if with 2014 champion Nibali returning he could do the after a two-year absence. It will be Giro in the first Nibali’s first real assault on the Tour’s year because it general classification since he finished went through fourth in 2015. Sicily. We Copeland has confidence in the were okay Italian, who finished third at the Giro with that and d’Italia and second at the Vuelta a we asked Espana last season. him to do Copeland “Vincenzo is a champion who the Tour de when he sets his target on a race, he France in goes there to win. That’s his main the second objective,” Copeland said. year if he “He’s a rider who has finished did the on the podium 10 times in the last Giro in years. He’s an incredibly consistent the first,” rider and I think that his chances of explained backs winning the Tour de France are good. Copeland. We’ll support him and his training “It wasn’t staff with everything they need to an easy decision get to the Tour in the best possible because the Giro goes shape.” through Sicily again, Sending Nibali to the Tour has and being Italian means been on the cards for 2018 since the he loves the Giro.” start of last season. Nibali will start his 2018 Nibali to However, with the Giro d’Italia campaign at the Vuelta a San going through his native Sicily once Juan later this month. again, the 33-year-old Nibali was The 2018 season is the second tempted to ride his home Grand Tour for Bahrain-Merida, who made yet again. Team priorities prevailed their race debut at last year’s Tour in the end, with the Vuelta a Espana Down Under. (cyclingnews) Vincenzo Nibali (file pic) win Too many Mercedes people will negative prioritise about F1 Hamilton London ormula 1 newcomer Pierre Gasly feels F“way too many people” are critical of in 2018: modern grand prix racing. The 2017 season featured F1’s first multi-team title fight since the switch Massa to V6 hybrid engines in 2014, but the new higher-downforce cars were not Felipe Massa (file pic) conducive to wheel-to-wheel battles, with overtaking figures plummeting as a result. London the Briton next year. into an elite list of drivers The championship also came in ercedes will back Lewis “[For 2018] the team is with four titles or more for criticism due to the amount of Hamilton in the 2018 completely on his side 100 that features only Michael engine component-related penalties FormulaM 1 championship per cent,” Massa said. Schumacher, Juan Manuel that regularly shuffled up the grid and fight, according to his former “So he has no issue with his Fangio, Sebastian Vettel and drew the ire of F1’s new sporting boss title rival Felipe Massa. team-mate like he had maybe Alain Prost. Ross Brawn. Hamilton clinched his before [with Nico Rosberg]. Massa was impressed with But when asked about grid fourth world championship “So many things are really the way Hamilton handled penalties, Gasly said he was reluctant last year, fending off Ferrari’s on his side and he can just problems with the Mercedes to criticise F1 as he felt it already got Sebastian Vettel with make himself better and early in the year and the a disproportionate amount of flak. Mercedes team-mate Valtteri better all the time.” consistently high level he “I don’t want to talk negative Bottas 58 points adrift. Hamilton won nine grands managed to achieve across about Formula 1,” he told Mercedes operates a policy prix in 2017, including five of the season. Autosport, “because I think there of letting its drivers race, but the six following the summer “Hamilton did the perfect are way too many people who are Massa, who was narrowly break on the way to clinching job,” said Massa. “He had talking about it in a negative way. beaten to the 2008 title by the title with two races to some little issues in some “And it is a great series, great Hamilton, believes the world spare. races at the beginning of the cars and people should be more champion team will focus on His fourth title moved him season. (autosport) positive about it.” (autosport) Pierre Gasly (file pic).