An audience with Vincenzo Nibali. Because this year's Giro d'Italia will be held physically far from home, the ritual of the rest day press conference has been moved to cyberspace. Instead of gathering at Trek Segafredo's hotel on Monday, reporters were asked to submit their questions to Nibali by 10 a.m. local time.

Nibali appeared at the designated time and began looking over the selected questions.

He advised them to "attack without thinking." Others emphasized, "KEEP BITING SQUALO," with an accompanying emoji. Still, Nibali moved quickly from answer to answer. 'Stage 6: ......' I mean, Question 6......." He even smiled at one point.

A week into this Giro, Nibali is in fifth place overall, 57 seconds behind Joao Almeida's (Dečuninck-Quick Step) Maria Rosa. His best moment was undoubtedly his assured ride on the summit of Etna on stage 3, but he lost 14 seconds to Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) on Sunday's Roccaraso on a steep final 400m gradient.

Nibali said, "At the moment, my position is almost right. Because I've only had one important mountain finish so far," and while admitting that his overall ranking rarely changes, he suggested that his hardship in Roccaraso was due in part to his hasty removal of his rain jacket in the finale.

"I took my jacket off with 9km to go, because there was a 3km descent a bit further on," he said. The others kept their jackets on until the last 3km." The other riders kept their jackets on until the last 3km. Did that affect me or not? It all happened in the sprint in the last kilometer. I lost a bit there, but that kind of finish doesn't suit my characteristics the best."

Of course, it remains to be seen if the terrain most suited to Nibali's requirements--the long, high pass in the third week of racing--will appear in this year's Giro. If heavy snow falls on Piacavallo and Stelvio over the weekend, forcing race director Mauro Veni to change the Giro to a route away from the highest peaks, the "Shark Week" may eventually become a formality.

"It's not an issue that affects only me," Nibali said. "I think the organization already has a plan B in place, and maybe a plan C for snow and bad weather stages. That's a little worrisome for me, but it will be updated as the days go by. We'll see as the Giro progresses."

Doubts about the feasibility of some key stages in the third week of the Giro will no doubt make GC contenders more eager to test the waters in the obviously less taxing second week. The next major appointments are the Valdobbiandene time trial and Piancavallo summit finish on the weekend, but also the finale Muri in Tortoreto Lido on Tuesday and stage 12 in Cesenatico on Thursday (along the route of the Nove Colli Granfondo), All along the Adriatic coast, there are potential springboards for the next few days.

"It's not a straightforward climb. I might be better suited to longer climbs, but if those climbs are eliminated, it might allow everyone, not just me, to be more aggressive in the coming stages. At this point, I can't make that decision.

"We've had some nervous stages so far, but with the exception of Etna, there haven't been too many long climbs. The Giro is tactical at the moment and there is very little space. But you have to evaluate things every day and maybe the tactical situation will be lifted. No team can control the entire race. "

Sunday night and Monday morning, all riders and staff within the Giro "bubble" will undergo mandatory PCR testing, the results of which will be confirmed before the start of stage 10 in Lanciano. The Giro's anxiety over the next round of coronavirus testing was heightened Friday evening when Simon Yates tested positive for COVID-19, but Nibali said he is not overly concerned.

"In one way, yes, but in another way, no. 'At this moment, we are all on alert. Unfortunately, we are trying to distance ourselves from the public. It is more complicated with masks and gels, but we try to stay in the bubble as much as possible."

While Almeida retains Maglia Rosa and Kelderman is in the best position of the experienced GC contenders--"So far, he is the strongest," Nibali said--the last few days have highlighted the rivalry between Nibali and his former Astana teammate Fuglsang has been highlighted.

Last week, in a column in the Danish tabloid BT, Fuglsang noted that his former leader "hardly greets me and follows me around quite a bit." He also complained that Trek-Segafredo appeared to be pressuring him when he had a flat tire on the descent of Monte Sant'Angelo on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Astana sportif director Giuseppe Martinelli warned that Fuglsang and Nibali risked missing the Giro if they marked each other too closely. Nibali, who was distracted by a similar battle with Primosz Roglic when Richard Karapas emerged in the pink last year, broadly agreed with the former general sporting director.

"It is not right to concentrate only on Fuglsang. We also need to think about Kelderman and (Steven) Kruijswijk," Nibali said, but in a Giro plagued by so many doubts, the tactical picture remains decidedly fuzzy. 'This is a very strange Giro at this moment in the season.'