Persistence pays for Viviani and Quick-Step Floors in Dubai TourElia Viviani perhaps received one birthday present a few months early when his agent Giovanni Lombardi suggested last summer that he end his contract with Team Sky and move to Quick-Step Floors for 2018. With Marcel Kittel heading to Katusha-Alpecin, the Belgian team needed a second sprinter that would not clash with Fernando Gaviria's ambitions at the Tour de France.
Viviani is happy to ride the Giro d'Italia, while the road will decide who leads in Milan-San Remo and the other spring Classics. At Team Sky, Viviani often had to rely on his track skills to fight for his chances in the sprints. Now Quick-Step Floors lead him out with experience and precision, which he is discovering is invaluable. "When I lose, the day after I'm really hungry and motivated to do better. Cav (Cavendish) put me on the limit in the sprint but thanks to a great lead-out I could win," Viviani explained, savouring a television replay on his stage 2 sprint. "This year there's no excuse. I have a really strong team. Nine times out of ten they bring me in a good position with the open road ahead of me. I was scared of being trapped in like yesterday. I really wanted to do my sprint and so thought that if someone passed me, then good for him. But nobody arrived. "Cav was the only guy I could see close to me. He came up and I saw him coming closer and closer but I wasn't at my top speed. I saw there were 100 metres to go but I had something more to give. I saw Dylan [Groenewegen] come fast with 20m to go but fortunately, the line came before he passed me." Viviani combined racing on the road and the track until the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He was rewarded with gold in the multi-event Omnium, beating Cavendish and Denmark's Lasse Norman Hansen but promised to focus 100 per cent on road racing going forward. He fit in well at Team Sky and was a personal favourite with Italian bike sponsor Pinarello. However, after being snubbed for a place at the 100th Giro d'Italia, he did not hesitate when Quick-Step Floors offered him a contract. It was a new challenge and new responsibility but offered huge opportunities.
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