2011 Nibali began 2011 with solid form, taking 5th overall in Tirreno-Adriatico. He also enjoyed a solid classics season, recording 8th place in Milan-San Remo and 8th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Nibali was one of the favourites for the Giro d'Italia, with Ivan Basso not riding, giving him sole leadership of Liquigas. He finished third overall behindAlberto Contador and Michele Scarponi, with Nibali and Scarponi fighting over second in the final week when it became apparent the gap to Contador was too large (Contador was later stripped of the title, moving Nibali up to second). Nibali was also leader of Liquigas at the Vuelta a España. On stage six, Liquigas orchestrated an escape on the descent into Córdoba, but a miscommunication saw Nibali finishing fourth, failing to take any bonus seconds. He moved to third overall on stage 11, behind Sky duo Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome. Over the Next few stages, Nibali began to chip into Wiggins' lead by taking time bonuses from sprints. However, stage 14 saw Nibali crack on the final climb, putting him out of contention for a podium placing. He finished seventh overall. 2012 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Vincenzo_Nibali_TDF2012.jpg/220px-Vincenzo_Nibali_TDF2012.jpghttp://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.24wmf15/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png Nibali at the 2012 Tour de France Nibali began the 2012 campaign with second overall in the Tour of Oman, one second behind Peter Velits, winning the queen stage. Nibali finished first overall in the Tirreno-Adriatico after winning stage five. He also won the points classification. In March, Nibali finished third in Milan-San Remo, his first podium finish in a monument. On Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he broke away solo when he attacked on the descent of the Cote de la Roche aux Faucons and dropped his main challengers with 20 kilometers to go, but he was passed by Maxim Iglinsky (Astana) in sight of the final kilometer (flamme rouge). He held on to finish in second place.[12] Nibali chose to focus his attention on the Tour de France, skipping the Giro d'Italia in order to prepare. After a solid first week, Nibali finished fourth on the first summit finish on stage seven to rise to third in the overall standings, sixteen seconds behind leader Wiggins and six behind defending champion Cadel Evans. However, Nibali conceded over two minutes to Wiggins in the time trial on stage nine, where he placed eighth, and slipped to fourth on the GC, behind Wiggins' team mate Froome. On stage ten, Nibali attacked on the descent of the Col du Grand Colombier and linked up with team mate Peter Sagan, but the pair were caught by the Team Sky led peloton. Nibali then accused Wiggins of showing a lack of respect at the stage finish.[13] Nibali went on the attack again on the following stage, which finished with a climb to La Toussuire, and put time into Wiggins and Froome, only for the pair to drag themselves back to Nibali, although he did move up to third overall after Evans lost time. He attacked again on stage 16 on theCol de Peyresourde with only Wiggins and Froome able to chase. They caught him before the summit but Nibali accelerated again but Wiggins closed the gap and the three of them finished together. Nibali lost time to Wiggins and Froome the following stage, another mountain stage, this time with a summit finish and two stages later in the final individual time trial which Wiggins won. Nibali finished third, the only rider to finish within ten minutes of Wiggins and Froome. Nibali left Liquigas-Cannondale at the end of the 2012 season, and joined Astana on a two-year contract from the 2013 season onwards.[2] The deal has been reported to be a three million Euros a year contract.[14] from Wiki