Speaking ahead of the Abu Dhabi Tour, Elia Viviani has spoken about just how different being a sprinter on Team Sky is compared to being a sprinter on other teams.

“It’s different than other teams, for sure,” the Italian told Cycling Weekly. “In races like the Tour de France, it’s hard for a sprinter to participate. Or the Dauphiné, for instance. Also in the Giro, maybe we do not go with a super lead-out, but then there are races like Abu Dhabi, the Dubai Tour. Abu Dhabi and Qatar will be WorldTour next year, and I’ll have a strong lead-out for those races.”

When the Olympic Omnium moved from Cannondale to Team Sky in 2015, many stated he had made a poor decision as Sky would offer him few chances to sprint. However, the fastman proved them wrong, taking eight wins, including one at the Giro and one in Eneco. He took six wins in his final season at Cannondale and registered three WorldTour wins between 2011 and 2014.

This year on the road has been a small write off for Viviani, only winning two races as he devoted his time to training for the Omnium, a risk that paid off as he took his Gold Medal in Rio. He says he dreams of the Tour de France, but for 2017 his goals are Milan-Sanremo, the Giro and then perhaps the Vuelta.

“My career is long. Sooner or later, I’ll go to the Tour de France. For now, I’ve only won a stage in the Giro. I want to win many others. I want to win many more in the Giro before I try in the Tour de France,” he added. “I don’t think about it for next year. In 2017, I want to prepare for Milan-San Remo and then after that, think only of the Giro and winning many stages there. Maybe the Vuelta a España could be a good end of year option.”

Ben Swift’s move to TJ Sports mean a rider who once helped Viviani win many of his ten races with Sky will now be a fierce rival in hard races.

“I’ll miss him in my lead outs. Many times, I won because he gave me a lead-out. Here in Abu Dhabi last year, he worked impressively [when I won]. I’ll now have to have him as a rival. He’ll need to be controlled because in races like Milan-San Remo he is one of the strongest riders.”