Fabio Aru (Astana) has told Cyclingnews he has a lot of respect for Chris Froome (Team Sky), but insisted he is not afraid to attack the Team Sky leader in the Tour de France Pyrenean stages that begin on Thursday with a finish on the mountain landing strip at Peyragudes.
Aru is just 18 seconds down on Froome after attacking Froome and his other overall rivals to win the mountain stage to La Planche des Belles Filles. He then matched Froome's attacks in the Vosges last weekend, becoming the biggest threat to Froome's fourth victory.
Their rivalry intensified when Aru seemed to attack after Froome's mechanical problems on the Mont du Chat climb, but both denied any problems after Froome then seemed to accidentally nudge Aru off the road after a hairpin. So far their race has been an exchange of jabs and testing blows. However, Aru may look to land a knockout punch in the Pyrenees.
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"I've got a lot of respect for Froome, but I'm not afraid to attack him and so take on the race," Aru told Cyclingnews.
"I like to light up the races, to entertain people watching the race at home. I was really sorry to see Richie [Porte] crash out and that other riders were injured last Sunday, but the truth is it was a great race to watch. We'll see how things go in the Pyrenees, but it'd be great to see more attacks and have another two big mountain stages."
Into the unknown
Froome has confirmed he will stick to Aru's wheel 'like glue' because of his concern about the Italian's attempts to take the yellow jersey. But Aru is looking wider afar.
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