By finishing fourth in the time trial, Vincenzo Nibali will bring a 16-year Italian drought in the Tour de France to an end when he rolls into Paris tomorrow as the overall winner of the race. However, the Astana leader refuses to draw any comparisons to his predecessor as Italian Tour champion.

Vincenzo Nibali underlined his status as a deserved winner of the Tour de France when he gained time on all his fellow GC riders in the final time trial and tomorrow he will be celebrated for his victory when he rolls into Paris. Nibali will not only the sixth rider in history to win all three grand tours, he will be the first Italian since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the biggest race in the world.

However, Nibali was keen not to be too closely associated to his compatriots whose exploits have been tainted by several doping revelations.

"It's hard to make a comparison between what Pantani did so many years ago and what I've done now because Marco won his Tour in the last week, whereas it was the opposite for me," Nibali said. "I took the jersey after two days, I don't know what to say.

"It's true that Italian cycling has its problems but I don't think it's down to a lack of riders or a lack of young talent. It's about the lack of sponsors and that's down to the wider economic crisis. I've seen this with my old amateur team, and I've seen it with my parents' business too. They used to have two video stores, but now they only have one. So it's a general problem that's reflected in cycling.

"I'm very happy. I've felt a bit of tension today but it's normal I guess. I wanted to do well in this time trial. It wasn't an easy course. It was a perfect one for specialists like Tony Martin. I was looking forward to reach the finish. It required a big effort to ride the course. I'm pleased to have set the fourth best time.

"I haven't realized yet how big it is to win the Tour de France. I'll keep that for tomorrow. It's difficult to ride the Tour but the beauty of it is to ride on the Champs-Elysées. That's the biggest memory I've kept from my first participation: the lap of honour, the enormous number of people, Paris' monuments... I'll try to savour my victory as much as I can. Every moment will count.

"As for my future, I don't think I'll ride the Vuelta this year. I might give a go to the world championship but I'm not sure if the circuit in Ponferrada suits me really. I've already given a big try last year in Florence... After winning the Vuelta, the Giro and the Tour, I'll keep focusing on Grand Tours but I'd also like to crown it all with a rainbow jersey one year.

"I still have ambitions to win other races, like the Tour of Lombardy, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the world championships. I've always loved those races and I've always tried to do well everywhere. I'm not just a stage race specialist."