Luca Paolini has announced that he will ride all three Grand Tours this year. After the Giro, he will race the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España probably alongside "Purito" Rodriguez because he has legs and grit that shows at age 37 he has much more to give to the sport.

"The Giro was a big disappointment, unfortunately, the day on which three of our guys crashed out and we realized that our race was going to be an uphill battle from there. My teammates and I were ready to do some kind of work and we had to reinvent ourselves, personally I did not have the explosiveness and other characteristics needed to play my hand. However, we have chances to make up for our disappointment in the next events."

He did not lose even a day after the arrival in Trieste, riding at least 2-3 hours every day because he has in mind a more prestigious goal to reach. "I want to do well in the Italian Championships. It would be great to wear the tricolor jersey in the Tour. The path is a bit lighter than last year and still fits more to my characteristics. It's a dream that is growing and I hope to accomplish, " he announces with confidence, this time no joke.

Before the Trofeo Melinda, Paolini will race the Tour of Slovenia, just to finish the preparation in light of the flag, and then leave with the rest of the Katusha for the Grande Boucle. "This week we had the beautiful confirmations that Trofimov (will be the leader for the Tour) and Spilak are doing well in the Dauphiné, in recent days in Norway Kristoff has proven to be fast and Purito is recovering in sight last week. The team in France is above all in the hunt for stages. I will give my best in the stages 12-15 and there is also a bit of cobblestones that you know I like. The intent is to start strong and then stop mid-tour and confront the team for the season finale. If Purito wants me I'll have to ride the Vuelta but am I no longer of an age to make certain efforts,” he concludes with a laugh.