Filippo Ganna, Elia Viviani and other key members of the men's Italian track team will start the 2024 season at Tour Down Under in Australia, participate in the Track Nations Cup in Adelaide on 2/2, and participate in the 2024 Paris Cup. It is expected to get the main preparation and qualification for the Olympic Games.

Gunna will pin the team's tracking team to the track and will also ride in a personal time trial in Paris, but due to the competition schedule, he will not be able to ride in the road race. Gunna has already confirmed he will miss the Tour de France on the Giro d'Italia and can be at his best in Paris.

Italy wants to win the men's team pursuit in Tokyo in 2021 to make up for their recent defeat to Denmark in Paris.

"My big goal this season is the Olympics. I will do the Giro d'Italia, but not the Tour de France," he confirmed last week in the Giro d'Italia route presentation before the off-season began.

Viviani has targeted the track with his possible goals in Omnium and Madison, his final appearance at the Olympics. The 2 Ineos Grenadiers riders are likely to be joined in Australia by Manlio Moro, who is due to ride Movistar in 2024, and Jonathan Milan and Simone Consonni, who will probably have to finalise their race program after moving to Lidl-Trek in 2024.

The Italian women's track team faces similar track and road conundrums, with Elisa Balsamo, Chiara Consonni, Martina Fidanza and Martina Alzini having to combine races with professional and national teams.

Italian National Track Coach Marco Vila highlighted the difficulty of combining Olympic ambitions with the World Tour's road racing program when he revealed the path to the Paris Olympics for Italian track riders.

"Roads and tracks are not compatible. Gunna will ride the team pursuit and time trial. The road race is scheduled for Saturday (27th) and the pursuit of the team will start on Tuesday, so there will be a chance for women to race more.

The Italian national team will hold training camps in Sicily in the 11th and 12th months and will perform track work on the 4-day block in Italy, including between Christmas and New Year. World Tour riders also need to combine the training of the national team with the training camp of the World Tour team.

The European Championship Netherlands from 1/10 to 14 will be an important test of the Italian national track team, but the tour down under will be held at the same time.

"Viviani, Gunna Moro would not ride the European Championship because they would probably have left down for the tour. But Ineos and Movistar have already allowed us to ride in the Nations Cup," Villa told La Gazzetta Dello Sport.

"Milan and Consoni are talking to their team about their program, and it is not immediately known whether they will ride the European Championship or also ride the tour below All women should be in the Netherlands.

La Gazzetta dello Sport will switch again to the track for the Nation Cup event in Milton, Canada, between 3/16 and 4/7 after Ganna suggested riding Milan-San Remo (4/12) and Paris-Roubaix (4/14). The likes of Milan and Balsamo can do the same.

"I hope to have the best riders for the pursuit of a male and female team for Canada. They come after the classic, but before any training for the men's Giro d'Italia," said Villa.

The results of the World Championships in 2023 and the best results in the events of the 2023 and 2024 Cup of Nations are essential to Olympic qualification.2