Nibali was the biggest loser on the first mountain stage, being dropped with more than 10km remaining of the 15km Le Pierre-Saint-Martin climb. He eventually crawled in more than four minutes down in 21st position on the stage.
Stage 10's time losses have effectively ended the Astana rider's yellow jersey hopes, compounding his previous time losses to put him 6min 57sec behind race leader Chris Froome (Sky) in the overall classification.
Nibali admitted that Froome 'hammered" the rest of the field.
"For sure Chris Froome hammered us badly. But we all lost time, all the favourites did: [Tejay] van Garderen, [Joaquim] Rodriguez, even [Alberto] Contador," Nibali said.
Like Contador, Nibali couldn't find his legs in the heat of the Pyrenees.
“It was a difficult day. I couldn't keep the pace. I could not breathe properly. I couldn't find the right pedalling pace. It was as if I didn't have any strength left. I could hardly follow my own team-mates.
"We all thought we were better. It's going to be difficult now. Physically I feel pretty well. But I can't give anymore. I'm not the same Vincenzo Nibali as last year.”
The question for the Italian now is what is left for him at the Tour? Even at seven minutes down overall, he is unlikely to be allowed to go stage hunting, and short of a miraculous recovery, his general classification hopes appear dead in the water.
One tactic his team might be considering is to withdraw respectfully and prepare for September's Vuelta d'Espana instead.
