Vincenzo Nibali, who will be our of contract at the end of this season, thinks about his future but he does not want to tell more about it. Interviewed by Cyclingnews, he again uses his standard response. The Italian rider explained that there are a lot of options to evaluate before signing. The last rumours have claimed that Nibali is close to Trek and Lampre Merida.

"Let’s just say that at this point, my manager Alex Carera is taking care of everything," the Astana rider said. "There have been some important contacts, as the Italian press like Gazzetta has touched upon, and I can’t say any more than that. But there’ll be plenty of time to evaluate everything. At Astana, there’s a group that works with me, so it’s important that the group stays with me. That’s my thinking at least, I’d like to keep them close. For the rest, I don’t know. But it’s not just about Vincenzo Nibali, it’s about the group around him too."

Nibali wants to stay with his trainer Paolo Slongo and his teammates Valerio Agnoli and Alessandro Vanotti.

Currently at the Tour of Oman, he does not know if he has really good legs. "I don’t know, we’ll have to see,. I’m only down from Teide for three days so I’ll need a few days to assimilate the work I did up there at altitude. I’ll have to get back to race rhythm", he explained. "It’s always a bit of a change when you come down and there’s the change in temperature, too, although it seems very, very good here, a lot cooler than last year. The Green Mountain stage will be the most important stage again, and I’ve just seen that it’s two kilometres longer so it’s going to be even more difficult."

He will aim for the Giro d'Italia this May. "After two years, I really felt the need to go back to the Giro, even if only for the tifosi", he added. He gives the leadership at the Tour de France to his teammate Fabio Aru. But the Sicilian will be present at the Italian three-week race with the ambition to improve his physical condition to be at the top on the Rio 2016 Olympics road race. "What Alberto tried to do last year, going for the double, is very demanding. As he said himself, itís not simple. This year, I just want to think about the Giro, and beyond that, Rio is a very important objective, Nibali said. ''I'd maybe think of going to the Tour more as preparation for Rio. And besides, at Astana, we’ve got two riders for the big stage races, [Fabio] Aru and me, and we’re looking to divide up the important objectives, because that’s only right."