Fabio Aru’s victory at the Vuelta a Espana elevated him to the exclusive club of Grand Tour winners and earned him a place at the so called Top Rider press conference before the Abu Dhabi Tour.
Aru sat next to new world champion Peter Sagan, with Astana teammate Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) close by. Other possible overall contenders for the new four-day race included fellow Vuelta revelations Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin). Also invited to the press conference were Philippe Gilbert (BMC), Elia Viviani (Team Sky), Tom Boonen and Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin), who all attended the pre-race press conference.
While most riders arrived overnight from Europe, Aru travelled from Kazakhstan after riding the Tour of Almaty and meeting several Astana sponsors to celebrate his Vuelta victory. Since pulling on the red winner’s jersey in Madrid, Aru has been busy with television appearances in Italy but has kept training and showed his form in last week’s Tre Valli Varesine and Milano-Torino races. He helped Nibali win in Varese and then finished third on the uphill finish overlooking Turin after helping teammate Diego Rosa go clear in the finale to win alone.
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Aru hinted that the Astana team will be looking to continue their run of end of season success at the Abu Dhabi Tour. The presence of Aru, Nibali and Diego Rosa in the Astana line-up confirms their intentions and having two leaders and three strong climbers could prove decisive on the 11km climb at the end of Saturday’s third stage to Jabel Hafeet. The finish is at an altitude of 1,025 metres and has an average gradient of 7.5%. The other three stages of the race are on flat roads and perfect for the sprinters if cross winds and echelons are not a factor but the mountain finish will decide who takes home the special Ferrari designed winner’s trophy.
“Despite being tired after a long season, I’m happy to be here. As a team we can do well,” Aru said with decision during the press conference.
“I’ve kept training since the Vuelta but I’ve also been kept very busy. I’ve just been in Kazakhstan for four days, spending time with the sponsors. But I’ll do as well as I can, like always. Vincenzo won a great Lombardia. We’ll see how I feel but I’ve no problem in helping Vincenzo. It’s important we have a good race. We get on despite what people think. I was really happy to work for him at the Tre Valli Varesine race and he won it. There are absolutely no problems between us.”
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