Giuseppe Martinelli has previous when it comes to managing an internecine rivalry. He was at the helm at Saeco at the 2004 Giro d'Italia, after all, when the tensions between Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni erupted into all-out conflict, and while Simoni's cry of "bastardo ignorante" is the lasting image of that race for many, it can't be overlooked that Cunego ultimately carried the pink jersey safely to Milan.
For the past two seasons at Astana, be it by accident or design, Martinelli has offset the potential for such enmity between Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru by handing them entirely separate racing programmes. Although both men are contracted to Astana, they have been effectively riding for different teams: save for a joint appearance in Italian colours at the Ponferrada World Championships, Nibali and Aru haven't raced together since the Tour of Lombardy at the tail end of 2013.
In the intervening period, Nibali has won a Tour de France and Aru has singled himself out as the coming man of Italian cycling with back-to-back podium finishes at the Giro d'Italia. But their paths have scarcely crossed. Astana's stable of stage-racing talent, too, has separated quietly into two distinct clusters; an Italian group, led by Paolo Tiralongo, has built up around Aru, while Nibali has increasingly been surrounded by foreign talent, such as Jakob Fuglsang and Lars Boom.
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At this year's Vuelta a España Nibali and Aru will finally race side by side in a Grand Tour, their first time to do so since Aru was the greenhorn among the Astana guard that helped Nibali win the 2013 Giro d'Italia. With Mikel Landa, third at this year's Giro, also in the line-up, Astana have no fewer than three potential winners of the Vuelta at their disposal.
Martinelli has stopped short of naming an outright leader before the race but it is clear that a hierarchy exists.
"I don't like starting without having clear ideas, and Vincenzo and Fabio are the leading lights of this team. As for Landa, he'll have to put himself at their service, certainly at the start," Martinelli told Cyclingnews in an exclusive interview.
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