Dubai: Reigning Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali has tipped rival Peter Sagan to triumph in the second edition of the Dubai Tour, which starts from the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) on Wednesday.
The Italian, who has been preparing for the new season with coach Paolo Slongo in Calpe, Spain, played down his hopes of success here and said he was only looking for a “good start to the year”.
But after Dubai, the 30-year-old hopes to find peak shape during the Tour of Oman, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, the Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Criterium du Dauphine to get himself ready for an assault on a second Tour de France crown in July.
Slovakia’s Sagan, who turned 25 last week, is considered one of cycling’s most promising young talents after some prestigious wins. Sagan, who competed in Dubai last year with Team Cannondale, won the green jersey for sprints at the Tour de France for a third time last year, after which he announced his switch to the Tinkoff-Saxo team for a rumoured €4m (Dh16.5 million) contract.
“This race [Dubai Tour] is the perfect race for Peter Sagan. There is even one stage concluding with a sprint on a climb. It’s only a 600-metre climb and that suits him best. For me, I like the long climbs. But we will see when the times comes,” Astana team star Nibali told media here on Sunday.
“I want to be a complete champion. I have one problem. I am not too strong in the sprints, but I take things as they come. For the time being it will be good to get a good race in Dubai and then see how I can peak in time for the Tour de France.
“For the moment, everything has been just so perfect for me. I have the support of all the riders and the added support of the [Kazakhstan] president [Nursultan Nazarbayev] and the fans have really helped in putting Astana in such a strong position.
“In Dubai we want to make a good start to the 2015 season. I’m not here for winning it. I need to start the race on an easy mode and that’s important for me. The climate is good compared to Europe, where it is so cold. I am very happy to be here looking for a good start.”
Nibali insisted that his triumphs of 2014 will not help him in the new season.
“That incredible feeling was left behind last year. What I achieved last year was very important for me, but this is a new season and I have new goals that will peak with a successful defence of my Tour de France title.”
Nibali, meanwhile, feels it is among his duties to answer doping queries in an attempt to show his sport is clean and fair.
Much of the scandal-hit Astana Pro Team conference here was dedicated to queries on doping. And, after he was asked whether it was frustrating to answer such questions, he said: “No, it is not frustrating at all. You media have the questions and someone has to answer these. Something has happened and someone has to answer. At Astana, we are not running away from the issue [of doping]. The team is serious and measures are being taken to make the sport clean.”
Referring to his personal experience, Nibali explained how he has been tested in and out of competition “at least 100 times last year, of which at least 25 were during the Tour de France”.
“This is normal for any sportsman. This is normal for cyclists. Last week, they came to my home. There are procedures in place and we need to just follow these to make sure our sport is clean and we are doing the right things,” he said.
