According to Astana’s official website, regarded as one one of the biggest favorites to take the spoils in the French two-day event, Vincenzo Nibali will not race in Criterium International in Corsica 29-30.3, choosing instead an immediate rest and retraining block towards the Ardennes Classics week at the end of April.

Despite still being short of condition Astana’s captain Vincenzo Nibali has shown signs of gradual improvement throughout last weeks and was expected to fight for the victory in the Criterium International taking place the coming weekend, as the versatile course of the Corsican race certainly suited the Sicilian-born rider.

However, it has been underlined following Nibali’s participation in Milano-Sanremo that the final decision on his appearance in Criterium International was yet to be made this week with the final outcome preferring some additional altitude training ahead of Ardennes classics.

“We saw Vincenzo work hard in Paris-Nice and Milano-Sanremo, it’s good news to watch the shark attack  - but now we need to draw back a little, go back to altitude in Tenerife to recover from the efforts and retrain specifically to get ready for the Ardennes – Liegi especially – this race is a fundamental one-day goal in Astana’s 2014 season and we want Vincenzo to be at real top fitness for the day,” Astana’s manager Guiseppe Martinelli informed via team’s official website.

“Michele Scarponi can lead a squad in Corsica with Jani Brajkovic and Alexey Lutsenko for the Criterium International”