Fabio Aru will end his 2016 season with a series of one-day races as he tries to move on from his debut ride in the Tour de France and learn for the future.
The 26-year-old Sardinian won the 2015 Vuelta a Espana and took a stage at the Criterium du Dauphine in June as he prepared for the Tour de France. He was Astana’s designated team leader for the Grand Boucle but cracked and suffered on stage 20 to Morzine, slipping from sixth 13th overall.
Aru has no ridden a stage race since the Tour de France, preferring one-day races rather than defending his Vuelta success. He finished sixth in the road race at the Rio Olympics after helping team leader and Astana teammate Vincenzo Nibali but has only raced five times since then. He was part of the Italian team for Sunday’s European Championships and is back in Astana colours for this week’s Giro della Toscana - Memorial Alfredo Martini and the Coppa Sabatini. He is set to ride the tough Giro dell’Emilia on Saturday and then other Italian one-day races before Il Lombardia on October 1.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I’m a Grand Tour rider and always will be but I think I need to experience the world of one day racing to learn and improve as a rider,” Aru told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“One day races help you sharpen your ability to read a race, help you handle the fighting for wheels, understand the attacks and things like echelons and splits in the peloton. All that helps your confidence and is a help in the Grand Tours. That’s especially been the case in recent years when there have been attacks on the flat roads in the first week.”
Aru has occasionally clashed with Nibali as they fought for leadership of the Astana team. However with Nibali moving to Bahrain Merida in 2017, the two have established a far more settled relationship and rode the Tour de France and Olympics together.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2cjSgTu
No comments:
Post a Comment