According to the final 2013 UCI WorldTour individual ranking, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) is the fifth best rider of the season but a strong case could be made that the Italian has proved to be the world's most unfailing rider of the season after confirming his credentials as a Grand Tour rider by winning the Giro d'Italia and finishing as runner-up in the Vuelta a España.

Additionally, Nibali also clinched the overall in Tirreno-Adriatico in March beating Chris Froome (Sky) into second, the Giro del Trentino in April and recently finished fourth in the world road race championships in his native country.

On Monday at the Gran Gala Ciclistico Internazionale awards, Nibali was celebrated as the best Italian rider of the 2013 season. After the award giving ceremony, Nibali used the occasion to reiterate his wish to participate in next year’s Tour de France.

Like the country itself, Italian cycling currently finds itself in an economic stalemate and Nibali faced little competition for the award this season. At 28 Nibali is enjoying the peak years of his career while compatriots Ivan Basso (Cannondale) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) are visibly past their prime. Furthermore, the next generation of Italian riders has yet to surface and establish themselves as credible Grand Tour conquerors.

"It's great to be number one in the Gran Gala classification. It's just a pity that I’m not number one in the UCI rankings even though everyone knows what I've won this year," Nibali told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Perhaps the way the points are awarded is wrong and needs rethinking. To be honest it's not something I think about too much when I race. I prefer to race."

Although he has made no public announcement of his exact race itinerary for 2014 yet, it seems unlikely that Nibali will attempt to defend his Giro d’Italia win as he is expected to build his season around a shot at Tour de France glory. The Tour de San Luis in Argentina is expected to be the launching pad for Nibali’s 2014 season but no public announcement will be made until after a winter session with the Astana team and management in late November.

"The one certainty is that I'm returning to the Tour. I haven't spoken to the team about programmes and so we haven't decided things yet. The Giro is a great race but I'd like to focus on the Tour. I want to ride it to win it, for me and for everyone in Italy."

The Kazakh outfit has bolstered its squad to support Nibali in the Tour de France and challenge the stranglehold on the Tour imposed by Chris Froome and Team Sky at this year’s race.

Franco Pellizotti, Mikel Landa and Lieuwe Westra are scheduled to wear the Astana colours, with unconfirmed rumours claiming that either Michele Scarponi or Ivan Basso could join the team.