Elia Viviani was the last to arrive when the Cofidis team took part in a training ride in Adelaide on Thursday morning. But the Italian sprinter is hoping to lead and inspire her new teammates to finish first in her season debut in Australia.

Viviani is wearing his signature white and blue European champion colors instead of the red and white of Cofidis, but stands out as the team leader of the French team as it steps up to the World Tour level for 2020.

Viviani won 11 races in 2019, including his first stage in the Tour de France, in his final season with Dečuninck-Quick Step. These results and 18 wins in 2018 led to an offer from Cofidis that he could not refuse. He traded the support and perfectly trained lead-out train at Dečuninck-Quick Step for a leadership role and a significantly larger salary in the hopes that he would be just as fast and just as successful without the support of the Belgian superteam.

Cofidis signed Viviani's trusted lead-out man Fabio Sabatini and track partner Simone Consonni to help build a World Tour lead-out for Viviani. He won the opening stage of the 2019 Tour Down Under and also won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. Despite all the changes, Viviani continues to aim high and hopes to fight for victory in Australia's often hectic early-season sprints, but refutes any suggestions of pressure or expectations.

"My hopes and ambitions are the same as ever. Sometimes the first sprint goes well, sometimes it doesn't. [It takes time for Simone to hit it off with lead-out man Fabio and for me to do my best.

"We've been working on the lead-out train and have sessions scheduled at the track. Viviani will join Consonni and Viviani's former lead-out man at Detunink Quickstep, Michal Morkov, for a track down under evening at the velodrome in Gebes Cross, north of Adelaide, on Friday. The same conditions are expected for next week's race.

"The temperature is 25-28 degrees, not as hot as in the past, and there is a nice breeze. I've been here a few days already and have been training for four days. We did two days of easy training to adjust to the travel and jet lag, and yesterday we started three days of block training. Then yesterday I started 3 days of training. I saw the finish in Stirling and plan to see some of the other stages. I saw the finish in Stirling.

Viviani can count on the support and local knowledge of fellow newcomer Nathan Haas at the Tour Down Under. Also on the Cofidis roster for the 2020 World Tour opener are Conssoni, Sabatini, Matthias Le Tournier, Marco Matthias, and Kenneth Van Bilsen.

Viviani is replaced by Caleb Yuan (Lot Soudal), Sam Bennett, who will take his place at Dečunink Quickstep, Andre Greipel (Israel Startup Nation), and Yasper Filipsen (UAE Team Emirates), Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling), and Christopher Halvorsen (EF Pro Cycling) in a sprint competition.

Cofidis has undergone a transformation since Cedric Vasseur took over as team manager last year. The team has returned to the World Tour level after a decade as a professional team, signing French stage race hope Guillaume Martin and Belgian Julien Vermote and ending a difficult relationship with Nacer Bouhanni.

"Both the team and the area are taking a big step up this season," suggested Italian director sportif Roberto Damiani.

"It's not a new chapter, but important progress along a carefully planned route. We always race "per vincere," meaning to win, but we don't feel pressure to win. Of course, we want to win here to show what we are capable of."

Damiani is an experienced director sportif and will play an important role in getting Viviani to win as soon as possible. He managed Mapei's development team, but this is his first time working with Viviani.

"It is a privilege for us to have a rider as talented and classy as he is, and it was nice to finally get to know him," he explained to Cycling News.

"Elia is a team leader and role model here. He leads by example more than by words. I feel I have gotten to know a great leader."

Viviani also seems pleased with the improvements Cofidis is making for 2020 and beyond.

"So far, everything is going well. Cofidis is really stepping up and setting high goals as a team.

"I want to share my experience and abilities and inspire everyone with my sense of leadership. I want to help them understand best how to aim for the sprint and how to be one of the best teams in the world."