A new child, a slow start to the season and the belief Vincenzo Nibali was below par means the Shark was largely overlooked in the build up to Romandie.

But the Italian ace marched swiftly back into the limelight with a stunning ride on stage one. His climbing is impressive enough but his descending is second to none.

The speed with which he attacked the fast, twisting descent into Sion was phenomenal and earned him a huge gap on his rivals. And as they passed under the three kilometres to go kite, it looked to be a race-winning move.

That he was finally swept up by the Omega Pharma-Quickstep-led peloton – or at least what was left of it anyway – was merely inconsequential in the end however.

His attack left a huge statement. Here was a man supposedly out of form, who simply could not be matched on a long, sweeping descent.

Team Sky’s problems when the roads spiral downwards are well known and were something which Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) tried in vain to exploit at last year’s Tour de France. On this evidence however, where El Pistolero failed, the Shark will not.