In mid-April, Fabio Aru's season seemed in tatters when he was forced to scratch the Giro d'Italia from his programme after injuring his knee in a training crash in Andalusia. There was little certainty that he would recover in time for the Tour de France, and, as he entered the finals months of his existing contract with Astana, many doubts about his status beyond 2017.
What a difference a few weeks make. Having quietly impressed on his return to action at the Critérium du Dauphiné in early June – his first race since abandoning Tirreno-Adriatico in March – Aru proceeded to solo to the Italian national title in Ivrea a week before the Tour. Victory atop La Planche des Belles Filles on Wednesday afternoon was a further confirmation of a remarkably rich vein of form.
When Team Sky whittled down the yellow jersey group to just 20 or so riders on the lower slopes of stage 5's final climb, it looked as though Chris Froome and his companions were once again destined to dictate terms and conditions on this Tour. A little under three kilometres from the summit, however, Aru unleashed an acceleration of such fury that nobody felt moved even to try to match it. It was a startling exhibition.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Sky are very, very strong, but logically if you are feeling good then you can attack," Aru said afterwards. "Today I felt good, and I'd tried to give a bit of a spectacle, to give the public something to applaud."
Weaving from side to side as he battled against the stiff gradient, Aru quickly opened a lead of 100 metres over the chasers, and continued to augment his advantage thereafter. Although Froome's later acceleration helped to limit the damage, Aru bounded up the final 20% slopes to win the stage some 16 seconds clear of Dan Martin (Quick-Step), moving up to third overall in the process, just 14 seconds behind Froome.
"The win has not really sunk in. I feel great, particularly after the difficult spring I had because of my injuries," Aru said. "I spent time during the Giro with my family, but it was very hard to accept that I couldn't race there, especially when it was starting in Sardinia, because it's not every year that it happens. When I went to the start in Olbia, I got a lot of support from the public, but I knew I had to get back to the Tour. The Dauphiné went well for me, and after that, I realised that I could do something here."
Learning from 2016 and taking on Froome
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2sO14JC
No comments:
Post a Comment