Enrico Battaglin goes into the 2015 season with great motivation. Considered from the very beginning to be one of the greatest Italian talents, the Bardiani rider has had a hard time showing the right constency but has always achieved excellent results, most notably two stage wins in the Giro d'Italia.

On the eve of the new season, Battaglin hopes to change the trend and take that extra step in quality that everyone expects from him. To do this, he is already working hard and wants to have a strong start to the season. Furthermore, he is trying to change his physical characteristics to become a stronger climber. Being more mature, he is now also one of the oldest in the Bardiani team and so will be expected to take more responsibility.

In December, Battaglin started his preparation for the season at the first Bardiani training camp.

"It was all right," he told Spaziociclismo in a long interview. "We did some testing and evaluated the tests. Now I will try to recover in the Christmas period."

Battaglin will have an early start to the season as he has been selected for the Italian national team for the Tour de San Luis.

"I will leave on January 8," he said. "We will train for a few days and then the race starts on January 19. For the first time in my life, I will do the Tour de San Luis, mainly to be ready for the next races. It is always nice to wear the blue jersey and to be taken into account by the coach.

"After Argentina, I should do Dubai and Qatar. Then I don't know. We have planned these two months and then I will return to Europe for the races on the Italian calendar."

His first big goals are expected to be Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-Sanremo.

"We haven't officially received an invitation because I think they will be handed on in the first part of January," he said. "I don't expect any problems. They are definitely important objectives and we will be ready.

"I am a little more motivated than I have been in other years, also because I am out of contract at the end of the year so I have to do well. I am now also one of the oldest here so I feel a bit more responsible."

With three stage wins in the Giro, Bardiani had an excellent 2014 season.

"Last year we went beyond expectations," he said. "In addition to the three wins in the Giro, we won with eight different rders throughout the season. This year we are definitely still in the spotlight. It will be tough to repeat the three stage wins in the Giro because last year there were some circumstances that led to these three victories. For 2015 we hope to do well and obviously want to be invited to the Giro but I think there will be no problems. Then we will see what we can achieve."

While Battaglin has excelled in the Giro, he has had a harder time in the second half of the seasons

"For two years, I have been going well in the Giro d'Italia but then I have been a little lost," he said. This year the end of the season was better. I did well but was still not at my best level. This year I hope that things will change. I want a good start and to be consistent with results from January to October."

Battaglin aims at a strong start.

"I want to be in the fight for the wins," he said. "Of course it is not easy to win because you are no always winning, even if you are good. I want to be in front with good placingsa and important results and show the kind of continuity that was missing these last two years."

Battaglin's main goal will again be the Giro.

"I've seen an outline of the course," he said. "I have not analyzed the stages in detail yet but there will be some for me. I am glad that we will stay in Italy all the time and for the riders there will be less transfers. I will aim at the first week where there are intermediate stages that suit me. Then we will see if I can join a break on a stage that is normally a bit too hard for me. This year I showed that I can do well."

Battaglin refers to his win in the big mountain stage to Oropa where he showed great skills at gauging his efforts, passing several strong climbers inside the final kilometre.

"I did well in the finale and I was helped by the fact that there were lots of attacks in the front group," he said. "While I rode at my own pace, there was a lot of stop and go. I managed to catch them in the end and when I got there, I knew that I had something left for the sprint. That is a starting point for doing well in similar stages next year."

That stage win was the highlight of Battaglin's season.

"It was okay," he said. "The problem is that I was lacking consistency but in the season finale I was still not going bad and I managed to achieve some results. Furthermore, I was always there to help the team. Now I hope to make a quantum leap in 2015.

"I have often analyzed my lack of consistency but I cannot find a reason. This year I changed a few things and we will see if I can reap the benefits. It will be a good start to lose a bit of weight so that I can be in front with the best on the climbs."

In fact, Battaglin is considering a change in riding style to become more of a climber than a classics rider.

"To be stronger on the climbs, you have to lose weight and therefore you may lose a little power," he said. "But in the stage to Oropa I saw that I can be up there with the climbers. It will certainly not be easy because I have to change my characteristics but I am working on it.

"When you feel good, you are calm and understand what to dow. Then there are times when you are not at your best and then you never know when it is the right time to attack."