Fabio Aru (Astana) took part in just three one-day races in the whole of 2015 but he will match that tally in the space of a week as he lines out at Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège for the first time in his career.
The Sardinian’s decision to eschew the Giro d’Italia in favour of a Tour de France debut this year has had a knock-on effect for the rest of his calendar, and Aru has already clocked up 21 race days in 2016, a marked change from his meagre diet of racing miles over the past two springs.
Although Aru abandoned the Tour of the Basque Country on the penultimate day after picking up a hand injury in a crash, he will line out at the Ardennes Classics with considerable ambition, though the Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race seems likely to be more of a learning experience.
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“Fabio’s very motivated and his condition is good, but these are very particular races, especially tomorrow with the narrow, twisting roads. It needs a lot of concentration,” Astana diecteur sportif Stefano Zanini told Cyclingnews in Maastricht on Saturday.
Speaking earlier in the week, Aru pointed to Liège-Bastogne-Liège as his principal target of the week, reckoning that the demanding, selective nature of the Doyenne ought to suit him better than the more fraught fare in Limburg this Sunday.
“Liège is certainly a race that will better for him,” Zanini said. “The climbs are real climbs, whereas here, they’re short and punchy, they’re more like ramps. Liège is better-suited to him, but Amstel is very useful as preparation for that and in general.”
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