After the news that the UCI would allow the Astana team to keep their WorldTour license, star man Vincenzo Nibali said there was no celebration, just focus ahead of Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

“There was no party,” Nibali said during a press conference at the team’s hotel. “We heard the news at lunchtime yesterday, I’m happy and now we can continue as normal. It hasn’t taken any pressure off my shoulders because there never was any pressure. It’s only the media that made this up.”

30 year old Nibali, Liege runner-up in 2012, knows he and Jakob Fuglsang need to make the race as tough as possible in order to win, and the pair have been on the attack in both Amstel Gold and Fleche, when Fuglsang rode to eight in the latter.

“We need to make the race tough,” he said. “We saw a similar race last year with 60-70 riders on Saint-Nicolas and this year the route has changed again. Many riders are obliged to try before, but it depends on the tactics from other teams but we’ll also try to evaluate the course at that moment.”

“It’s a very open course which gives you many opportunities and many possible scenarios, it’s perhaps the toughest Classic, of course I’ve never done Paris-Roubaix or Flanders, but of the ones in this part that I always do.”

Nibali is hoping for rain to try and tilt the race in his favour, as on the steep descents it’s harder to catch attackers if the roads are slick with rain.

“I won’t do a rain dance but for sure the rain can give me something more. But it’s annoying for everyone, there’s less tactics and many riders hate riding in the rain.”