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Vincenzo Nibali victim of hilarious TV prank (+ link to video – includes a lot of Italian swearing)

Trek-Segafredo star duped into believing his wife has made €2m investment – but intermediary will rip up contract on one condition ...

Vincenzo Nibali, one of only seven riders to have won all three of cycling’s Grand Tours, has fallen victim to a hilarious TV prank during which, among other things, he gave a masterclass in swearing in Italian. Even if you don’t speak the language, we reckon it’s pretty hilarious!

The prank, which involved fellow pro cyclists Alberto Bettiol, Domenico Pozzovivo and Diego Ulissi, and his agents Alex and Johnny Carrera, aired last night on the Italia 1 satirical show Le Iene – literally, The Hyenas – which has a segment each week that is a kind of celebrity You’ve Been Framed.

It revolves around Nibali’s reaction to his wife’s apparent signing of a contract, without his knowledge, to buy a care home in Romania for €2 million.

The clip, which you can watch here, begins with the Trek-Segafredo rider having breakfast with his family then heading out for a ride with Bettiol and Ulissi on the roads of Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Canton Ticino, ostensibly to film a publicity video for the area.

Soon, a WhatsApp message arrives from Pozzovivo, asking whether they are indeed out riding, given he has spotted Nibali’s car parked outside a hotel which happens to be just up the road.

While he tries to call his wife, Ulissi – in on the joke – asks whether it’s today she was supposed to meet the investment guy, much to Nibali’s bemusement.

Immediately, a picture of Rachele with the man at the hotel arrives via Pozzovivo and an apparently panicked Nibali wastes no time getting there.

When he finds the room his wife is in and asks her what’s going on, she explains she’s there to sign the contract, and when she furnishes him with the details, he is open-mouthed in disbelief, throwing it to the floor and asking her whether she is mad and what the hell she is doing.

By this point, his agents have come into the room and, having leafed through the contract, tell Nibali it’s binding because his wife has countersigned each page, as required – his reaction to that being to hurl his helmet to the floor, with no small amount of force.

Now the intermediary comes in, insisting despite Nibali’s increasingly angry protestations that the contract is valid and then – once the agents have departed – coming out with the line, “How much is your wife worth?” as he says he’ll rip up the contract for the chance to spend one night with her.

If that’s straight out of Indecent Proposal, Nibali’s reaction, as he switches his gaze between the intermediary and his wife is something worthy of De Niro or Pacino in The Godfather trilogy, though without the ensuing violence.

“No. No way,” he says. “We’ll pay the 2 million.”

Once the man departs and the agents are back in the room, Nibali – apparently in shock – explains what has happened and, looking out from the balcony sees the intermediary riding off on his bike, cheerfully waving the contract.

“Vaffanculo!” yells Nibali, charging downstairs and running across a hotel lobby in his cleats, resulting in what could have been a very nasty – and costly – fall, as the prankster makes off with his bike.

Grabbing Bettiol’s bike, he chases after him – there’s only going to be one winner in that race – at which point the reveal is made.

“Brutti stronzi” – approximately, “Bloody shitheads,” says Nibali to the hosts – “I almost killed myself rushing out there. You gave me palpitations.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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Reedo | 3 years ago
0 likes

How about "Pro Riders Join with Italian TV in Dangerous, Sexist Prank"? Or, don't give it any oxygen at all. Feeling disappointed in road.cc writer and editor here. 

Avatar
Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
1 like

Many men's reaction to someone offering to waive £2M to spend a night with their wife would be to kick seven bells out of the blighter, would that have made it more "hilarious"? Practical jokes really are the lowest and often ugliest form of wit.

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
1 like

Rendel Harris wrote:

Many men's reaction to someone offering to waive £2M to spend a night with their wife would be to kick seven bells out of the blighter, would that have made it more "hilarious"? Practical jokes really are the lowest and often ugliest form of wit.

I don't necessarily believe that. some no doubt, but there's a world of difference between saying "I'd kick the 5h1t out of anyone who said/did that" and actually doing it when presented with the circumstance.

However, I agree, this kind of thing is no particularly funny, and have the potential to be quite harmful.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
0 likes

Captain Badger wrote:

I don't necessarily believe that. some no doubt, but there's a world of difference between saying "I'd kick the 5h1t out of anyone who said/did that" and actually doing it when presented with the circumstance.

I certainly hope I wouldn't, but  I've encountered plenty of men (never for very long as I run away quickly) prepared to fight if you so much as smile at their girlfriend in a pub.

Avatar
alchemilla | 3 years ago
2 likes

Hilarious.  Not.

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mdavidford | 3 years ago
0 likes

Quote:

Vincenzo Nibali, one of only seven riders of all three of cycling’s Grand Tours

Are you sure about that?

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WeLoveHills replied to mdavidford | 3 years ago
0 likes

Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome

Avatar
mdavidford replied to WeLoveHills | 3 years ago
0 likes

... Adam Hansen...

[NB - they've now fixed it so that it's actually accurate.]

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