It has been a journey to hell and back. "My season has been troubled, that's for sure." Vincenzo Nibali is ready to tackle the challenges ahead. His 2015 ended successfully and with a smile of someone who has just come out of a nightmare. He suffered in the Tour but ended the year with in a win in Lombardy. He saw his image being tainted when he was expelled from the Vuelta for having hung onto his team car but ended the year by making history as one of the few to have won all three grand tours and Il Lombardia.

For Nibali, he budget can only be positive. For a variety of reasons, he "struggles to find the pace of the race. I was too late,” he admits in a conversation with Tuttobiciweb in Abu Dhabi where he participated in the eponymous tour of RCS Sport. “But I tried to make sacrifices. I always had the goal of the Tour, but it is clear that, after the victory in 2014, a repeat would not be simple. And who says that I should have won by force? I had a very difficult first week but I knew how to react; I gained some positions and ended in fourth place which is quite an achievement. With a little luck I could even have been on the podium. In the early days I was set back by obstacles of various kinds.”

The season became exhilarating. Nibali was always on the back foot, despite winning another Italian title. "We must also deal with such problems. The wheel turns, and maybe this was the year when everything went wrong," he says. Some say that when you start to lose, you become even more sympathetic. Nibali laughs: "Let's say that you have to know how to lose and accept defeat, find the strength to be reborn. The important thing is not to lose your heart. For example, I got the maximum sentence in the Vuelta and was expelled from the race. But I've taken too much: for me it was a starting point. I worked with my head down, I had goals and I won. It was not easy, but I got what I wanted from the races. The situation led me to look for the right time to try it: I won in Lombardy. I like cycling, it gives you a sense of freedom.”

Would Nibali do the same races if he could do the season all over again? "Of course I would because you never know what the future holds. I have no regrets, no regrets. " Next year could be the Giro could be on the schedule. "I have seen the course for the Corsa Rosa, in a few days I will learn about the Tour as well, but there is an essential goal for me in 2016: to bring a medal to my country from Brazil. The Olympics are a major event, which not only encompasses the sporting act but also leads to union between countries at war. There are people who do not communicate and whose athletes speak to each other during the Olympics. The Olympics are unique. To take a medal of the Games would be great. "

And the Giro? "I like the course, it is designed very well and there are very interesting time trials. I have skipped the race the last two years and this motivates me.”