Davide Cassani has returned to Italy following a stint watching his Italian riders at the Vuelta a Espana. He has with him a long list of riders from which the final nine men to compete in the race later this month will be selected. He will announce his final nine and two reserves on the 18th of September.

He has no obvious leader in the team but Vincenzo Nibali is the captain of the team and many believe he is Italy’s big hope. But riders like Battaglin, Trentin, Visconti and Aru may all get the chance to ride for themselves in the final that suits fast men who can climb.

“Everything, not only our tactics, will be shaped by his form. There's a big question mark because he missed a lot of days before he began training. It depends if he's at 80% or 100% but he'll still be useful,” Cassani said, clearly downgrading his hopes that Nibali can play a key role in an Italian victory.

Daniele Bennati will most likely be road captain, with Alessandro De Marchi, Manuel Quinziato and Gianluca Brambilla doing the work and infiltrating breaks.

“Daniele (Bennati) is doing an excellent job for Contador at the Vuelta. He knows how to move in the peloton and is one of the best riders in the world in that role. When a winner can change into a worker, it means he's a complete rider. He's also fast and so if he gets in the right break, that would be good for us,” Cassani said.

“Fabio (Aru) is going really well and I expected that. I know he really wants an Azzurra jersey. Going for the overall at the Vuelta is tough but he's got the time to recover.”

Veteran duo Filippo Pozzato and Damiano Cunego may have also managed to put themselves back into contention to race for their country again.

“Damiano has comeback into contention and I'm curiuos to see what he can do. It's the same for Pippo. I'll take him to the pre-race camp and then it'll be up to him to tell how he's going and what he can do.”

The last time Italy had a World Road Race Elite Mens Champion was Alessandro Ballan in 2008.