The 2015 season has unveiled Diego Rosa’s talent. In his first year at the WorldTour level, the Italian showed himself with great performances in the most demanding races, both in support of teammates and for himself, with the crowning achievement being the success at Milan - Turin. Still very young, Rosa has shown that he deserves a place at the top of the cycling world and his contribution will be essential for Astana in 2016.

”I have had a good winter,” he told Cyclingpro.net in an interview. “I have seen that the whole team is ready, lean and determined with the objectives already quite clear in our heads. There is still some time until we start to race. We will see how the rest of the winter goes and then the first few races.”

Rosa ended the season on a high with his win in Milan-Turin and a great performance in Il Lombardia.

”It was what I wanted, I missed the victory,” he said. “It’s fine to be a good rider but having the label of no victories bothered me. I managed to open the account in a year in which I had no ambitions about personal results. It was a nice surprise for me. But as I repeated last year and I reiterated after Lombardy, I'm here to help the captains that are stronger than me. I am at their service. If I have a bit of room for myself, I will take it gladly.

“I did not expect this performance but I have had a remarkable calendar with all the major races. I camce to the Vuelta and I almost only did WorldTour races. It helps you to be in a great team with great riders. To compare yourself to strong riders improves your level. The results are welcome and make me happy. Maybe I did not expect them but that's fine.”

In 2015, Rosa followe a calendar that was largely identical to Fabio Aru’s and it will be more of the same in 2016.

“I'm here to help Fabio and I will have a calendar with the same races as him,” he said. “He will do the Tour and we will have a classic approach to that race and the race in the beginning of the season where we will have a different approach than when we prepare for the Giro. In the Tour we will see what the differences from the other grand tours are.

"For my part there is a bit of curiosity. I've always heard good things [about the Tour]. It is the only one of the three Grand Tours that I miss. I'm curious and will find out how to interpret the other riders. I will prepare meticulously for the Tour but the riders are the same and it can’t be a completely new world. I cannot wait to try it.

“I have seen the course and have looked at the most important stages. We'll have time to talk at length during the early training camp. We will lay the foundations, analyze the course and understand which stages we will have to check out.”

This year Mikel Landa played the role as Aru’s final support rider in the mountains and Rosa is widely tipped to take over that role.

“I hope so,” he said. “This year Landa was like a motorcycle. We'll see when we are on the road as every year is different. I have shown that I can be near the front in challenging stages and I think my contribution is important. Last year Landa went like a motorcycle and could be a captain himself. He was put at the service of others and was a key rider for Astana. However, we are a team of climbers and great riders. I do not think we will have problems even though we will miss a rider who can make ​​the difference like Mikel.”

Rosa also expects to get personal opportunities along the way.

“I'm sure when the time comes, when my condition is good, the team will give me space like they did this year,” he said. “At Milan - Turin they gave me the green light, and it was them who encouraged me to take the role of captain. They know what kind of rider I am. They know my condition and they will decide when to move in one direction or the other.”

Paolo Tiralongo recently said that he regards Rosa more as a one-day rider than a stage race specialist.

“At this point, I hope [to be a rider for one-day races] but my characteristics are a bit strange,” Rosa said. “There aren’t many one day races for me, only the Ardennes Classics and at the end of the season with Lombardy. The others are suited to fast riders. For this reason, I won’t focus just on one-day races. I could be a useful rider for the team in stage races and take my own chances in the one-day races

”I would like to improve in many areas. I am a bit critical regarding myself. Every year I try to improve a bit here and a bit there. This year I will decide with the teams what my goals are, what my task is and where I have to work.”