When Rui Costa became world champion, Alejandro Valverde's and Joaquim Rodriguez' tactical decisions and the bad lack of Vincenzo Nibali and Rigoberto Uran drew more headlines than the Portuguese's victory. In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, the new Lampre-Merida rider refuses that he won the rainbow jersey  by stripes.

Prior to the world championships, Rui Costa had been marked out as a dangerous outsider - Cyclingquotes made him a 3-star favourite in our preview - but his name rarely came up when the biggest favourites were discussed. When the race was decided, a combination of tactical nous, strength and luck made the Portuguese defy expectations and take the win ahead of some of cycling's biggest names.

In the days after the race, the media attention was, however, not focused on Costa's win. Instead, it was the tactical failures of the Spanish team that had seen Alejandro Valverde fail to close mark Costa when Joaquim Rodriguez was away that took most of the headlines. At the same time, the Italians wondered what might have been if home hero Vincenzo Nibali had not spent a lot of energy to chase back to the peloton after a crash.

The debate has left many airing the view that Costa was more the world champion by the virtue of the mishaps of his rivals than because of his own strength. In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Costa is, however, adamant that he deserved to win the race in Florence.

"There was much controversy but it made little sense," he said. "Nibali had bad luck with his crash, the same can be said of Uran. Rodriguez and Valverde. With regards to the tactics of Valverde and Rodriguez, I think I used my remaining strength after a tough race. I don't believe that I was a world champion by chance."

In 2014, Costa will leave Movistar to become the captain of the Lampre-Merida team and he has already made it clear that his main objective is to go for the GC at the Tour de France. In fact, it was his desire to ride for himself in La Grande Boucle that prompted him to leave his current team.

However, Costa is keen to stress that it will not be all about the Tour for the world champion. He also plans to do well in the Paris-Nice and the Ardennes classics.

"It is not only the Tour and I have not even started to think about the first week which will be very hard with the English stages and the cobbles," he said. "I want to do well in the first half of the season, in the classics. I will debut in the Challenge Mallorca and the Dubai Tour and then do the Paris-Nice."

Costa has just finished the first gathering with the Lampre-Merida team. His change saw many observers raise a few eyebrows but the world champion has been very impressed by what he has seen so far.

"For me, the rainbow jersey is not a burden but an honour," he said. "I am 27 and I think my best years are still to come. The gathering with Lampre was great. There are many knowledgeable and passionate people. I think the team will offer me great support."

While the world championships win was the highlight of his season, Costa also netted two stage wins in the Tour de France and won two stages on his way to a defence of his overall Tour de Suisse win.