Italian national coach Davide Cassani has confirmed that Vincenzo Nibali will not be part of the team for this year’s World Championships road race, but he remains upbeat about Italy’s chances in Bergen after Matteo Trentin’s stage wins at the Vuelta a Espana and Elia Viviani’s run of success in sprint finishes.
Nibali was under consideration as a team leader because of his huge status in Italian cycling, but his crash on the descent of El Cordal on the penultimate stage of the Vuelta has left him with a sore rib and little desire to be in Bergen in a race that is suited to Classics riders and sprinters.
“I have to understand how I'm feeling and see what I've done to my ribs, because I felt the blow," Nibali told La Gazzetta dello Sport on Sunday. "I'll decide based on that. Certainly, having spoken with the national coach, I realised that the course wasn't suited to me and that the national team already has the right pieces. What role could I play?”
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On Tuesday afternoon the Bahrain-Merida team confirmed that an x-ray had confirmed a micro-fracture in a left rib, with Nibali ordered to rest for several days.
Cassani will reduce his 16-name long list to the final 11-rider squad (nine starters plus two reserves) on Thursday after the one-day Coppa Bernocchi race. He has accepted that Nibali will not be in the final squad.
The riders in contention include Trentin, Viviani, Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida), Gianni Moscon (Team Sky), Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Daniel Oss (BMC), Marco Canola (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale-Drapac), Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky), Enrico Gasparotto (Bahrain-Merida), Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates), Davide Villela (Cannondale-Drapac) and road captain Daniele Bennati (Movistar).
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