Unique to the race this year was the much-feared cobbled stage 5 which saw Nibali create massive time gaps over his rivals due in large part to his S-Works Roubaix SL4. With its class-leading vertical compliance and overall stiffness thanks to the Zertz inserts and CG-R seatpost, the Roubaix carried Vincenzo over the cobbles in one piece, further proving that smoother truly is faster.