Having won the Giro d’Italia, Vincenzo Nibali now has his sights set on the world championships in Firenze. Born in Sicily, he moved to Tuscany as a teenager to further his cycling career, and is determined to do well in his adopted home region.

Italian national team coach Paolo Bettini confirms that he will build his squad around the Giro winner: “The other day, after he won the Giro d'Italia, I told him: ‘Enjoy this moment, draw a line under everything and then we'll start thinking about the world championships’,” Bettini told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Nibali has completed a special chapter in his career and he can now go on to win the world title. He's developed gradually as rider over the years but has kept his feet on the ground, as a person and as a rider. He's become a team leader, while still staying the likeable young guy that we all know and like. The team was happy to ride for him in Valkenburg.”

“Vincenzo isn't fast in a sprint but he was third at Milan-San Remo and second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I think Firenze can be like Varese in 2008 which ended with a great team performance,” Bettini said, speaking of the last world championships in Italy, where he himself was the marked man as defending champion. Instead, Alessandro Ballan won the title and Damiano Cunego won the sprint of a small group for second place.

“The course is for riders who can climb well. The first part of the route (from Lucca to Firenze) will be stressful, San Baronto is a real climb, and passing through the centre of Firenze will be spectacular but very technical.”