Vincenzo Nibali to test Tour de France legs at Italian championships
Jun 27 2018 02:46 am CET
Photo of Vincenzo Nibali by Jonathan Roorda / CyclingPub.com
Vincenzo Nibali is set to be part of the selection that Bahrain-Merida has made for the Italian championships. The race will take place one week before the start of the Tour de France.
Bahrain-Merida has chosen a strong team to tackle the 233-kilometre route that includes several short and explosive climbs. "I will arrive at this race after the Passo San Pellegrino’s training camp and just a few days before the start of the Tour," said Nibali.
"I already won the road race title two times and I will try to win one more time because wearing the national champion jersey is a great goal for any Italian rider. I don’t know the route, but they told me that will be very tough. Our team is very strong and we will be able to choose different solutions in the finale."
Sonny Colbrelli will also be part of the team and the race is in a route he feels close to. "For me, it’s like racing at home because I live at around 50 kilometres from the start," explained the rider. "I like the route even if compared to the year of (Giacomo) Nizzolo’s victory, there is a bit more climb. I think we must be careful of rivals like (Diego) Ulissi, (Enrico) Battaglin and (Marco) Canola who are riding really well."
Other two riders of Bahrain-Merida will start in their own countries' races: Hermann Pernsteiner will be at the road race in Austria and Kanstantsin Siutsou will do the ITT and the road race in Belarus.
Bahrain-Merida's line-up for the road race of the Italian championships (30th of June):
Valerio Agnoli
Manuele Boaro
Niccolò Bonifazio
Sonny Colbrelli
Enrico Gasparotto
Antonio Nibali
Vincenzo Nibali
Franco Pellizotti
Domenico Pozzovivo
Giovanni Visconti
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