Fabio Aru will have the Astana leadership at the next Tour de France. The 25-year-old rider, who won the Vuelta a Espana and finished second at the Giro d’Italia, has been rewarded with even more responsibility and expectation for the next season. Interviewed by Cyclingnews during a recent training camp, he confirmed his status as team leader for the French three-week race.

"Last year I was under pressure to do well but I hadn't won a Grand Tour. I don't know if I've changed now I've won the Vuelta… Winning a Grand Tour does change things around you and it's difficult to understand until you do it. Personally it was nice to be on stage with Chris Froome and Alberto Contador at the UCI Gala in Abu Dhabi, things like that make you realise you're in a different league. Now I've got the satisfaction of winning and making all the sacrifices seem worthwhile and I've got the motivation to do it all over again. The day after winning the Vuelta, I started thinking about having a good end of season and a good winter and other goals", he said.

He will make his debut at the Vuelta Valenciana (February 3-7) and then gradually build up for the Ardennes Classics with a series of stage races. In order to be at the top for the Tour, he will race the Critérium du Dauphiné after a block of altitude training.

"The Tour de France is something new for me but I'm curious to find out what the Tour de France is all about, what its really like," Aru explained. "I'll study the race route in detail and also ask Vincenzo for advice and on the secrets of the Tour. He won it two years ago and so he'll give me lots of advice. My teammate and close friend Paolo Tiralongo has got lots of experience too.

"My season will be built around being at my best for the Tour de France but I'm almost going to have a pretty busy early season until the Classics. I'll probably start at the Vuelta Valenciana, then ride either Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico and then the Tour of the Basque Country – a race that seems fascinating but one that I've never ridden. I should have ridden Liege-Bastogne-Liege last year but I was ill. I'll do a lot of races I haven't done before in 2016 and so they'll all be interesting to discover and give me some extra motivation."