A tumultuous day at the Tour de France for Fabio Aru (Astana) saw the Italian move into second overall after finishing in the same time as Chris Froome (Team Sky). But as soon as Aru crossed the line, he found himself in the centre of a minor media storm over his attacking as Froome was looking for a spare bike.
Aru’s attack ground to a halt almost immediately afterwards as the peloton of favourites, headed by Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team), insisted that everybody sit up and wait for Froome.
But given the circumstances, it’s fair to say the move was ill-timed. And it produced a series of questions post-stage to Aru that veered away from his strong, consistent performance on the Tour’s toughest mountain stage. Instead the questions had rather more to do with whether he had failed to behave in a sporting manner when Froome attacked.
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The minor controversy had certain parallels with the situation that arose when Aru’s former teammate Vincenzo Nibali attacked Froome during the 2015 Tour, coincidentally when Froome had had a mechanical with his back wheel.
Nibali won that day’s stage, to La Toussuire, and he subsequently insisted he had not seen Froome having any bike issues at the exact moment when he made his move. Aru was equally adamant that was the case on Sunday.
”I didn't know Froome had had a mechanical. When I found out, I stopped,” Aru told Italian television afterward.
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