Following his appearances in spring classics, Luca Paolini rider the Tour of Turkey as his final build-up event towards the Giro d’Italia, where the 37-year old Katusha rider will play a supporting role to Joaquim Rodriguez.

Despite very difficult weather conditions met on yesterday’s fourth stage of the Tour of Turkey, Paolini told Italian media that he was pleased to have chosen the Turkish stage-race over the Tour de Romandie, considering the difficulties riders were forced to face in Switzerland.

The 37-year old Italian also shared his plans for the latter part of the 2014 season, including appearance in the national championships and the Tour de France.

“I would say that everything is going well, time is on our side, at least considering what we can observe in Romandie,” Paolini told TuttoBiciWeb.

“My goal in the Giro is to help Purito claiming the victory, since he is a great rider and deserves to win a grand tour event. Then I will target Italian championships and head directly to the Tour de France afterwards. Then, I think, the season is over…”

“Maglia azzurra? No, thanks. I won’t change my mind,” Paolini concluded.