The first part of the season didn't pan out the way Vincenzo Nibali had hoped for but after showing clear signs of improvement in the Criterium du Dauphiné, he now claims to have found his best shape. The Astana leader will use this weekend's Italian championships as a very important test of his condition.

After his victory in last year's Giro d'Italia, Vincenzo Nibali went into the 2014 season as one of the riders expected to shine but until now nothing has worked for the Italian. In the spring, he failed to reach his best conditions for the classics which were his big objective and only in the Tour de Romandie he made a decent result.

He is now approaching his biggest goal, the Tour de France, where he aims to win the only grand tour that has so far eluded him. He showed clear signs of improvement in the Criterium du Dauphiné and now claims to be in his best shape for the biggest race in the world.

This weekend's Italian championships serve as his final test and he expects to be in contention for the win in tomorrow's road race.

"There are riders who will aim only at one of the races while I will ride both Saturday and Sunday," he said at the pre-race press conference, referring to Saturday's road race and Sunday's time trial. "For me the road race is more important than the time trial. There are specialists like Cataldo and Malori who don't do the road race that have better chances than I have.

"I know that I have worked well on my climbing, I'm fine, I've already won Trofeo Melinda [whose course will be used for the road race] but this time the route is longer. "We'll see how the others are in the finale.

"A favorite? I can't give you a name but all the riders from Bardiani are strong as are the guys coming from the Tour de Suisse.

"In the first half of the season I never reached top condition, because of the birth of [his daughter] Emma, my crash at the beginning of the season. In the last two months I have finally found the shape I wanted, I'm calm and confident for the Tour which is the main goal for me and for the team. And I know how to work and how to best prepare. 

"Of course, my opponents at the Dauphiné proved to have to be better than me but I have worked hard in recent weeks and even though it won't be easy I am focusing on the top step of the podium."

Earlier this year La Gazzetta dello Sport revealed that Astana manager Alexandre Vinokourov had sent a letter to Vincenzo Nibali, criticizing his performances. Later it has been revealed that the letter was sent to all team members and Nibali plays down its importance.

"It was not a letter," he said. "It was an e-mail to the entire team, even Fabio Aru who had only done 5 races. It was an encouragement to everybody to give their best. This year the team has changed but we have not had the kind of disagreements that were rumoured."

Starting Saturday at 14.50 CEST you can follow the Italian road race championships on CyclingQuotes.com/live.