Nibali riding to tour victory

Article by SHERRYLYN CLARKE

EVRY, France (AP) – Vincenzo Nibali and the Tour de France pack have begun the 21st and final stage of this year’s race, with the Italian poised to take home the leader’s yellow jersey today.
The 137.5-kilometre (85.4-mile) ride from suburban Evry to Paris is a largely ceremonial procession with sprinters likely to battle it out in the race finale on the Champs-Elysees for the stage win.
The 29-year-old native of Messina, Italy, is set to enter the history books as only the sixth rider to win all three Grand Tours – of France, Italy and Spain – and become the first Italian to win cycling’s greatest race since Marco Pantani in 1998.
Nibali locked up victory in the three-week race by methodically, bit-by-bit assembling a lead of nearly eight minutes on his closest rival.