Despite many feeling that Vincenzo Nibali will want to do well on GC for Astana at the Tour de France, his team are adamant the Giro winner is at the race to help his younger compatriot Fabio Aru and nothing more.

“Everyone is racing for Astana,” team manager Giuseppe Martinelli told La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. “Nibali is a helper. We’re not going to the Tour with two leaders. I don’t want any kind of duels. Then the selection will be made in base of the race situation. I’m lucky to have these two at my disposal. Look, it’s easier than you might imagine.”

Aru, who has had an awful season bar winning a Dauphine stage, says he is taking a leaf out of the Nibali playbook. When Nibali won Le Tour in 2014, he had a similarly poor year.

Vincenzo and I prefer to find rhythm in limited events that count. We find it works well. And we won’t change the approach,” Aru explained. “Nibali was also criticized, but in the end, he proved to be right in the Giro.”