Nibali and Moscon confirmed for Italian Worlds team

Image 1 of 5

Vincenzo Nibali climbs to Balcón de Bizkaia during stage 17 at the Vuelta(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Vincenzo Nibali and Gianni Moscon are set to lead the Italian elite men’s team at the Road World Championships in Innbsruck. National coach Davide Cassani confirmed seven of the eight-man squad at a press conference in Milan on Monday, with four riders in a short list for the final spot.

The Innsbruck Worlds has been one of Nibali’s stated objectives since the start of the season, but his chances were compromised by the crash that forced him out of the Tour de France and left him with a broken vertebra. The Bahrain-Merida rider returned to action at the Vuelta a España but although he completed the race, he sounded a subdued note about his chances in Innsbruck, telling La Gazzetta dello Sport, “I’m not in the condition to make the difference and be able to win the Worlds.”

Moscon made a winning return to competition on Saturday after the suspension he received for punching Elie Gesbert (Fortuneo-Oscar) on stage 15 of the Tour de France. The Team Sky rider claimed victory at the Coppa Agostoni in Lissone on Saturday. Cassani confirmed that Moscon will not ride the individual time trial in order to focus on the road race, but he lamented the suspension that ruled the rider out of the Vuelta. A year ago, Moscon was disqualified from the Worlds for taking a tow from Cassani's team car.

“I’ve been talking with him about the Worlds since March because I was convinced even then that he could be a leader for our national team,” Cassani said. “If he could have ridden the Vuelta, maybe he would be one of the big favourites. Now we know he doesn’t have the base that others have, so for that reason he won’t do the time trial and will do another long training ride [on the Wednesday before the road race] instead.”