Adriano Malori took the biggest win of his career when he won the final stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Having produced some of the best watts of the entire season, the Italian is now ready for the Worlds where he targets a top 5.

Adriano Malori went into the final time trial of the Vuelta a Espana as the man to beat. On a short, flat course, the Italian is one of the best time triallists in the world and he fully proved his skills when he took a comfortable victory in the short race against the clock.

However, Malori would definitely have preferred to take the win in slightly different circumstances as rain set in halfway through the stage and made the roads wet for the late starters. With several turns on the technical course, the second half of the peloton had no chance and only three riders managed to finish within a minute of the time set by Malori after the rain had set in.

That didn’t take anything away from Malori’s performance though. Having been slightly off the pace in the technical first part of the course, he dropped the hammer on the long straights in the final part to take a comfortable victory on the short 8.8km course in Santiago de Compostela.

“I'm super happy," he said. "I didn't know how things would turn out today after all the work I had to do for my team leaders during the whole Vuelta. Luckily, the team gave me a free ticket to recover during yesterday's stage and I could tackle this time trial with 100% focus.

"We knew it could rain and also that all favourites but the GC contenders, riders like Dennis, Sergent and Vandewalle, started in the first hour. When I knew I had gained eight seconds on Sergent who looked to me like a strong favourite, I realized I had many chances to win. He put two seconds into me at the intermediate check but the second part was more for strong rouleurs, suiting me better.

“I’m very happy with this victory. I wanted to try and go for it today because of the withdrawals of Cancellara and Martin, there was space for someone like me. 

"The watts I produced were close to the highest level I found in my time trials this season, and that means I finished the Vuelta in good condition. It's a prize for bot the team and myself.

"What I did today is good signal for the world championship. I can’t beat Tony Martin, unless he punctures or something but I can target a top 5 if everything goes well. Today I had one of my best days of the year against the clock. I felt it and the watts I pushed also showed that I was going well.

"I’ve also been lucky to avoid the rain. I was scared that Froome could beat my time but on a wet surface, I believe he didn’t take any risk. 

"After what happened with Nairo, leaving with three stages and Alejandro's podium is quite a thing. Now we travel to Ponferrada really excited about what we can do at the Worlds - I hope to do well there."