There are a lot of contenders for the rainbow jersey at the World Championships in Richmond, Virginia. Elia Viviani is one of them. The Team Sky sprinter hopes that the elite men's road race will end in a sprint. But with John Degenkolb, André Greipel and Alexander Kristoff, the level is really high.

"Both (Italian national coach) Davide Cassani and my Team Sky coach Rod Ellingworth have said the course suits me even if the three short climbs in the final five kilometres of each lap need short and intense efforts to get over them," the Italian rider explained according to Gazzetta dello Sport. "My endurance is not a problem and so I only needed to work on handling the intense efforts to ensure I’m up there in an eventual sprint finish. Since the Eneco Tour I’ve added a special training ride in my programme that includes several five-minute intense efforts on the Torricelle climb that was on the World Championship course in Verona. My average power was about 460-480 watts."

Last weekend, before the team time trial, Viviani crashed hard. But he confirmed he is recovering quickly and he is ready for the road race after a strong training this week. "I’ve also done some sprint training behind the scooter with my dad: 300m sprints with me going up against the scooter and coming off his wheel. I’ve also done some double sprints in 600m to have two peaks of power. I feel ready."

Italia will bet on a strong team with Vincenzo Nibali, Diego Ulissi and Giacomo Nizzolo. "My performance at the Tour of Britain boosted my confidence and hopes," Viviani explained. "I won two stages with double the climbing of Richmond (1600m) and another that was 230km long. I’m on form and ready to take responsibility in the team. Italy has a really strong team and there’s a good atmosphere. We’ve got me, Nibali, Trentin, Ulissi. No other nation has so many quality alternatives."