Team Astana leader and Chris Froome’s main rival in the coming Tour the France 2014 edition, Vincenzo Nibali, couldn’t enjoy his recently grown family for long as he lined up alongside his younger brother Antonio at the start of GP Camaiore yesterday. Now the Sicilian-born Giro d’Italia champion heads to France to participate in the Paris-Nice starting on Sunday, to slowly continue preparations towards his biggest target of the season.

"It's hard to leave home and your newly-born daughter to go to a race but I wanted to ride the GP di Camaiore for lot of reasons," Nibali told Cyclingnews and Gazzetta dello Sport before the start of the race.

"I've won in it the past and it's the very first race that I'm able to ride with my brother Antonio. My parents are also here after being in Lugano to see the baby. It's special for them to see their sons racing together.

Originating from Sicily, both the Astana captain and his 21-year old brother started their careers riding in the junior club is Tuscany and Vincenzo admits he enjoyed a possibility of riding together in the familiar area.

“It's also nice that we're racing together in Tuscany, where we both began our careers as juniors after leaving home."

Nibali admitted that new responsibilities concerning the birth of his first child did affected his training routine, but he remains certain he will quickly make up for the lost time and aims to hit the top disposition for the Ardennes classics.

"The birth has meant I haven't been able to train consistently well but that's natural. My form’s not great but riding the Tour of Oman was important and helped me a lot. Now I've got to watch my weight and gradually build my form for April. It's important for me to peak for the Ardennes, for the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège."

It was all about the Giro d’Italia for Nibali last year, but things are different for the Astana leader this time around as he strongly aims to contend for the Tour the France crown. Thus, the racing schedule of the Sicilian for 2014 season is very different to the one he used to follow for several consecutive seasons with the Paris-Nice replacing Tirreno-Adriatico.

Since the Giro d’Italia champion won’t line up at the start of the star-studded Italian stage race to defnd his title, questions about avoiding his main rivals naturally came to mind but Nibali insists that the necessity of testing his legs on the French ground was the only and logical reason for the alteration in his racing schedule.

"It was a logical choice to ride Paris-Nice. There was no polemic with the organisers," Nibali insisted.

"I've ridden Tirreno-Adriatico for the last few years but this year I'm targeting the Tour de France and so it makes sense to get a taste of the French roads before July.

“I'm not avoiding Froome. If I was worried about Froome and people comparing me with him, I wouldn't have ridden the Tour of Oman. I'm not worried about what other riders do and the races they ride. I know what I've got to do to be at my best for July."

"The fact that Froome won Oman and I was a bit off the pace doesn't worry me. I've seen how he's going and how he's been training. That motivates me but I won't be getting stressed out about trying to match him. I'll do my own training, stay cool and be ready for the big races, the races that really matter."