Head of the Italian cycling team Davide Cassani has spoken of how strange it is that he will need to select two different teams for the Olympics and Worlds due to the vast disparities between the parcours.

The Rio Olympics are for pure climbers, whereas the Qatar Worlds will be for sprinters and possibly Classics specialists.

"In Ponferrada and Richmond, I was conscious that I didn't have a leader and a team suited to those kinds of parcours, but we're contenders here, either for the win or a medal, which is already a great result in the Olympics," Cassani told Gazzetta dello Sport when asked about the possibility of an Italian taking gold tomorrow. "But no, I wouldn't sign for a bronze medal now because I know I've got riders who can take Italy to the very top step of the podium."

"The team is ready for every eventuality with Aru as an alternative to Nibali in the leader's role, even if he's not a one-day rider. But then this isn't any old one-day race," Cassani said. "Then there are two climbers like [Diego] Rosa and [Damiano] Caruso who are capable of being in moves in the crucial phases of the race, and a rider like De Marchi who by his nature can guarantee a certain type of work right from the beginning."