Elia Viviani is one of the world’s best sprinters but needs to win more silverware to be a true great

Matt Jones - Editor 10:48 11/02/2018
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  • Viviani began life at Quick-Step Floors by sprinting to the Dubai Tour title earlier this year.

    That Elia Viviani – already considered one of the planet’s most elite sprinters – has set himself the goal of becoming one of the best, says everything about the Italian’s burning ambition.

    Then again, despite a decorated career that includes an Olympic gold medal, when he lines up his awards and achievements next to those of fellow sprint kings Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel, perhaps the Quick-Step Floors rider still feels he has some ground to make up before he becomes the true golden boy.

    Despite the 29-year-old’s burgeoning reputation, there was some truth behind the words uttered at his press conference following his Dubai Tour victory on Saturday, when he modestly admitted he still doesn’t consider himself among the best.

    “I really want to win more than I win until now. I’m not a poor sprinter but I think I need to win bigger races to feel like a really big champion in cycling,” Viviani responded when one journalist scoffed at the suggestion he wasn’t already among the world’s best.

    Viviani was sat yards from the finish line where minutes earlier he had plundered his second stage victory of the weekend, the Dubai Tour champion’s trophy resting in front of him.

    He was being humble. But also honest. After all, both Kittel and Cavendish’s list of major accomplishments are plentiful, especially when stacked up against his own.

    Manx Missile Cavendish has rocketed to a roaring 30 individual stage wins over the last decade at the most prestigious road race on earth – the Tour de France – where he trails the mercurial Eddy Merckx by just four victories. He also won the points classification at Le Tour in 2011.

    Mark Cavendish

    Mark Cavendish was champion in Dubai in 2015.

    From that decade he sits a scarcely believable joint third in total Grand Tour stage wins, alongside Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi; both men have 48. Belgian great Merckx predictably tops the list with 64, with another Italian, Mario Cipollini, second on 57.

    Cavendish also has form at the other two Grand Tours, winning 15 stages at the Giro d’Italia from 2008-13 and three at the Vuelta a Espana (all in 2010).

    Kittel’s penchant for the big stage is no less impressive. The German is 20th on the Grand Tour’s most successful riders list with 19 victories – 14 stage wins at the Tour de France, four at the Giro and one at the Vuelta. His flair for the famous French race puts him sixth for most Le Tour triumphs.

    Viviani’s combined Grand Tour stage victories? Just one. A solitary victory on Stage 2 at his home race of the Giro in 2015.

    So there was definitely a healthy combination of realism and desire when Viviani spoke of aiming to become “one of the best in the world and maybe one of the best Italian riders”.

    In addition to climbing closer to Kittel and Cavendish, iconic compatriots Petacchi and Cipollini are likely in his thoughts too.

    And the best way to get closer is by beating the best, as Viviani consistently did during the five days in Dubai. Victory on Stage 2 and 5, third on Stage 1 and sixth on Stage 3 and 4. Stage 3 was the only time he finished lower than the deadly duo, with Cavendish first and Kittel third.

    Marcel Kittel won back-to-back crowns in Dubai.

    Marcel Kittel won back-to-back crowns in Dubai.

    At the start of the new season, there is a sense of change in the air. Viviani’s victory in Dubai halted a three-peat attempt from Kittel, while Cavendish – who he beat to omnium gold in Rio – was champion here in 2015.

    The Englishman may be the more successful rider of the three, but Kittel – now with Katusha-Alpecin – has undoubtedly been sultan of the sand, winning eight stages (of 21 total in the Dubai Tour’s five editions) and two overall titles during three appearances here.

    That Quick-Step – for whom Cavendish won here three years ago – allowed Kittel to leave during the off-season is telling.

    The giant German had essentially been let go due to the emergence of young Colombian, Fernando Gaviria, which jeopardised Kittel’s spot in the team’s Tour de France line-up.

    Viviani, while as big a name as his two rivals, perhaps does not possess the alpha male persona of Kittel or Cavendish.

    The affable Isola della Scala native is a bona fide world class talent but without the ego. Both Kittel and Cavendish have reputations for being fierce competitors and moody characters.

    With Viviani, Quick-Step know they have a superstar rider in their stable, but one more content not being the team’s most high-profile sprinter, happy to play second fiddle to the exciting Gaviria, a man six years his junior.

    It’s a role he’s accustomed to. After all, during three years at Team Sky, he lived in the shadow of Chris Froome.

    Just because he is content, however, does not mean Viviani is cowering. He is now at a sprint-orientated team considered the best in the business.

    Perhaps he is more calculated than you think and just crouched, set to pounce on his best year yet.

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