Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) proved that he will be a formidable candidate for another Tour de France victory when he repeated last year’s excellent performance at the Italian championships by making it two in a row in the fight for the tricolore. Having escaped alongside Francesco Reda (Idea) and Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) on the final descent, he dropped his rivals with a strong attack 2km from the top of the Colle Superga climb, taking a solo win ahead of Reda and Ulissi who completed the podium.

History has a tendency to repeat itself. If that’s true, Vincenzo Nibali will again stand on the top step of the podium in Paris when the Tour de France comes to a conclusion on July 26 after he defended his Italian road race title with a splendid performance on the famous Colle Superga climb outside Turin.

Last year Nibali had a poor spring season and was off the pace in the Criterium du Dauphiné. It was his win at the Italian Championships that turned things around for him before he went on to claim a maiden yellow jersey in France.

This year Nibali’s season has been almost an identical copy of the one he had last year. Again he was far from his usual level in the spring and he didn’t look too strong in the Dauphiné either. However, today’s performance was similar to the one he delivered 12 months ago and proves that he has peak condition just in time for his big goal.

"I am especially happy because I felt the sensations I was looking for," he said. "It will be an honor to wear the tricolor jersey in the Tour de France. You know how I am linked to that flag. My dream is to repeat the exploits of a year ago although it will not be easy.

"With the team we tried to have an approach similar to last season. I'm just sorry that Alessandro Vanotti was unable to be with us today. For me, he is an important rider. I was nervous due to the lack of victories but the team have never put pressure on me and knew the season was designed to get into form at the right time.

"The team for the Tour? You will know it on Monday. The jersey that I will wear? I imagine it will be like the one I wore until yesterday. Today I know that the Expo President of Kazakhstan and President Matteo Renzi came together and I'm glad to have shown what I did.

"Today the final climb was hard. In the first lap we set a high pace with Agnoli and Cataldo and then I forced it even more. I did everything to not get to the finish with Diego [Ulissi] who had already won on this climb. I did not know how Reda was but he delivered a great performance. I knew I had done well and that sooner or later it was time to reap the benefits.

"The Tour will be challenging. The first part will be very nervous and I will take it stage by stage. We are aware that we have worked well so I'm calm. I have had the right approach and the tests tell me that my values ​​are like those I had in 2014.

"I fear everybody but in my opinion the one to watch is Quintana. The secret will be to be as regular as possible. On the cobbles I don't know if I am stronger than the others but we must keep our eyes open and if there is an opportunity, I have to take it. The recon was important. I saw that the stage is not as long as last year but has more sections of pavé closer together. Some are slightly uphill and some are slightly downhill where we can even reach 60km/h . There is a right-hand bend on a descent. If it rains it will be very difficult to handle.

"The racing today helped me and I can take the start in the Netherlands with more confidence. Now I will go home and on Tuesday we leave for the Tour with this beautiful tricolor jersey."