'I'll treat it like a classic' - Viviani targets key Vuelta opener for Grand Tour return

Some may have forgotten that Elia Viviani is one of the most prolific winners in the current pro peloton. Over the years, the Italian has combined a very successful track career, winning European, World and Olympic titles, with sprinting for some of the world’s biggest teams.

There have been two stints with Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers, Cofidis and the early years at Liquigas, but his glory years were the two he spent with the Quickstep set up when, in 2018 and 19, his win tally was well into double figures each time. 

However, since then, success has been increasingly hard to come by. There were no wins in 2024, his last season with Ineos, and it seemed he might be forced into early retirement, but the 36-year-old finally landed with Lotto in February.

Tomorrow, he will start his first Grand Tour since the 2021 Giro d’Italia, and he has his sights firmly set on victory on day one, when he will be riding on home roads in Turin, for one of the very few sprinters’ days. 

“I'll tell you one thing, Saturday will be the key day,” Viviani told BiciPro. “I'll treat it like a classic. I want to arrive fresh, because for me, Saturday will be the Vuelta, then day by day, whatever comes will come. But the first stage in Italy, with the sprint finish, is an opportunity. And in any case, it will be my return to a Grand Tour, an opportunity not to be missed, or at least one for which I must do everything well.”

Having signed for the Belgian outfit, Viviani has won just once, but since finding out he was riding the Vuelta has built his season around Saturday’s opening stage.

“It was one of the things I immediately asked the team for clarity on. If you believe in it, take me, or we'll forget everything, and I'll go to the races around Europe. Instead, I found full support, so after the Italian Championships, I took a quiet week of semi-vacation at home, but without my bike. And from there, I moved up to Livigno for three weeks with seven teammates. I returned home to go to the Tour de Pologne, chosen as a warm-up race.

“I would have had a better chance elsewhere, but we knew the Tour de Pologne could be important in our approach to the Vuelta. In the end, I suffered like a dog, but I knew it was good for me. I was already feeling great in Hamburg [a race where he holds the record number of wins] and only fell behind due to a puncture at the wrong time, but I had a good feeling. 

“So I'm going into the Vuelta knowing that there will be few opportunities, just as there were few in the Giro and the Tour. Ultimately, there won't be many sprinters, so I assume that by making the sprint, I'll have a chance. Pedersen will be on fire, and Philipsen too. Especially Pedersen, who will also be the reference for the green jersey and the sprints.”

With such a hilly race, Viviani has concentrated his training on climbing, dropping any gym training but continuing his sprint efforts,  all with a view of getting through the race and being able to compete. He also knows the benefit of having a Grand Tour in his legs can have, especially with the track World Championships in Chile on the horizon.

“My best results have always come after a Grand Tour, as well as during the race itself. I would never have won the Italian championship without the Giro. Classics like Hamburg, Plouay, or the London Classic, and the European Championship, would never have happened without the Tour. So, in my opinion, when counting all the victories I've missed in recent years, the absence of the Grand Tour certainly had an impact.”

And retirement?

“Let's say we're clearer and more relaxed than last year,” Viviani said. “With Lotto, we calmly talked about one year and maybe another if we were all happy, but things are complicated right now by the team's merger with Intermarché, so everything is on hold.

“If the end of the season turns out to be the way I'd like it to be, with fireworks, why not race again?”