On the eve of his 36th birthday, Vincenzo Nibali insisted that he is not yet a write-off.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport (open in new tab), the Trek-Segafredo rider described the 2020 season, which was interrupted by the pandemic, as a "strange year" that made it difficult to draw firm conclusions.

Nibali finished only seventh overall in the Giro d'Italia. He has finished on the podium in all six of his Corsa Rosa appearances over the past decade. The Sicilian's last Grand Tour victory was the 2016 Giro, but he downplayed the suggestion that his days of competing for victory in three weeks of racing were over.

"It was an open-ended year, too weird to be taken as a completely reliable indicator," Nibali told La Gazzetta (open in new tab).

"The Giro didn't go the way I expected. Not only in cycling, but the young athletes coped well with a season like that."

Nibali said.

Nibali will celebrate his 36th birthday on Saturday, but he dismissed the idea that age will be an obstacle in 2021.

"Whatever keyboard warriors write, they are not old enough to be brushed aside. What matters is my desire and the pleasure I get from riding my bike," Nibali said, admitting that "mistakes were made" in preparing for the change in the fall race schedule.

"If I could go back in time, I would have had just one training camp in the mountains instead of two. And I would have done a few more races."

To limit his potential exposure to COVID-19 and to stay within Trek-Segafredo's Giro "bubble," Nibali raced only in Italy from August, with one stage race, Tirreno-Adriatico, before the Grande Partenza in Palermo. The race was reduced to only one, Tirreno-Adriatico.

Nibali departed Sicily as the overall favorite, but faltered in the Baldobbiadene time trial and the third week in Piacavallo.

He arrived in Milan 8:15 behind winner Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers).

"Over the years, whenever I've set my sights on a Grand Tour, I've always been in the top contenders. Unfortunate years can happen, and in fact some riders have had more unfortunate years than me," Nibali said.

"I have never been gifted anything by anyone, and in the 2019 Giro I was second between Calapaz and Roglic, who confirmed their quality in this year's Vuelta."

Nibali's contract with Trek-Segafredo expires at the end of 2021, but next season will be his career Whether it will be the last has yet to be decided.

"I don't know yet. If I analyze 2020 well, I can still do good things in cycling."

The delayed Tokyo Olympics road race is likely to be Nibali's 2021 program.

"My idea is to race 'free' so to speak, instead of focusing on one goal. And not even think about the next race."