Fabio Aru
 Aru at the 2015 Vuelta a España | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Fabio Aru |
| Nickname | The Little Angel |
| Born |
3 July 1990 San Gavino Monreale, Sardinia, Italy |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 66 kg (146 lb; 10.4 st)[1] |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Astana |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climber |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2009–2012 | Palazzago |
| 2012– | Astana |
| Major wins | |
| |
|
Infobox last updated on 13 September 2015 | |
Fabio Aru (born 3 July 1990) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Astana[2] who was the overall winner of the 2015 Vuelta a España. A year earlier, he had proved himself an up-and-coming star within cycling, by achieving a third place overall in the 2014 Giro d'Italia and a fifth place in the 2014 Vuelta a España. He then followed it up with a 2nd place finish in the 2015 Giro d'Italia before taking his first grand tour win at the 2015 Vuelta a España.
Career
Early career
Aru was born in San Gavino Monreale, Sardinia, but he lived in Villacidro.[3] At the age of 18 he moved to mainland Italy to pursue a cycling career at under 23 ranks.[4] He joined the Palazzago team where he won the Giro della Valle d'Aosta twice (in 2011 and 2012). In 2012 he also finished runner up to American rider Joe Dombrowski in the Baby Giro.[5]
Astana (2012–present)
Aru joined the Astana Pro Team during the 2012 season, after four years with the Palazzago domestic team in Italy. In 2013 he finished fourth overall in the Giro del Trentino, also claiming the Young Riders' Jersey. He rode his first Grand Tour, the 2013 Giro d'Italia, in support of team leader Vincenzo Nibali. He helped Nibali win the race overall, finishing 42nd himself.
In 2014, Aru again rode the 2014 Giro d'Italia, with the expectation of supporting former winner Michele Scarponi. However, Aru proved stronger than his teammate and on Stage 15 took his first professional victory by winning on the summit finish of Montecampione. Aru went on to finish the Giro in third place overall behind Nairo Quintana (Team Movistar) and Rigoberto Urán (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), reaching the podium in just his second Grand Tour.[6]
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In his next Grand Tour, the 2014 Vuelta a España, Aru won the Stage 11 summit finish atop Alto de San Miguel de Aralar, attacking the leading group with one kilometer to go.[7] He repeated the feat on Stage 18 finishing Monte Castrove. He escaped with Chris Froome near the end of the climb and outsprinted his rival.[8] He finally finished fifth of the Spanish Grand Tour, won by Alberto Contador.[9] He finished his season in the Italian Autumn classics, placing fourth in Milano–Torino and ninth in the Giro di Lombardia.
In 2015, Aru came in sixth at the Volta a Catalunya. In April, he missed the Giro del Trentino because of an intestinal ailment.[10] Greg Henderson accused Aru of faking the ailment, and actually skipping due to a pending biological passport case.[11] Aru promised to sue Henderson for his accusations as he was preparing for the Giro d'Italia.[12] In May 2015, it was announced that Aru's contract with Astana was renewed until the end of 2017.[13] The 2015 Giro d'Italia started off bad for Aru's Astana team, losing seconds to Tinkoff-Saxo, the team in which main rival Alberto Contador rides for. However, in a very exciting first week of racing, Aru attacked Contador in the mountains as he was led by his well-prepared Astana team, remaining only seconds behind Contador in the general classification battle.[14][15] And when Contador crashed on stage 13 in a pile-up, Fabio Aru crossed the line well in front of Contador, securing the first pink jersey of his career.[16][17] However the next day, a 59.3 kilometer individual time trial, hyped as the Giro's determining day, Aru lost 2 and a half minutes to Contador, thus losing the pink jersey.[18] He lost more time in the Mortirolo stage, but bounced back on Stage 19 to take an emotional solo victory.[19] On Stage 20 featuring the Colle delle Finestre, Aru won his second consecutive stage victory taking two minutes from Contador but failing to take the pink jersey.[20]
Aru later got back to racing at the Tour de Pologne and finished in 5th place as he preapared for his next season target, the Vuelta a España. He performed well in the first week, before taking the red leader's jersey after finishing second on stage 11, the Vuelta's queen stage.[21] He held the lead by a handful of seconds before losing it to Joaquim Rodríguez on stage 16.[22] On stage 17, an 38 kilometer individual time trial, he was able to perform very well and keep himself within 3 seconds of the winner of the ITT and new leader of the Vuelta, Tom Dumoulin. Over the final days, Aru attacked Dumoulin repeatedly, trying to place himself back in red. It wasn't until the penultimate mountain day that Aru succeeded, dropping Dumoulin and advancing himself towards his first Grand Tour win, as he cried tears of relief and happiness as he crossed the finish line.[23]
Palmarès
- 2010
- 2nd Trofeo Gianfranco Bianchin
- 4th Overall Giro della Valle d'Aosta
- 5th Giro del Belvedere
- 2011
- 1st
Overall Giro della Valle d'Aosta
- 1st Stage 6
- 2nd Toscana Coppa delle Nazioni
- 2nd Under 23 National Road Race Championships
- 4th Overall Baby Giro
- 6th GP Palio del Recioto
- 10th Giro del Medio Brenta
- 2012
- 1st Overall Giro della Valle d'Aosta
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st
Overall Toscana Coppa delle Nazioni - 2nd Overall Baby Giro
- 4th GP Palio del Recioto
- 8th Trofeo Piva Banca Popolare di Vicenza
- 2013
- 4th Overall Giro del Trentino
- 1st
Young rider classification
- 1st
- 7th Tre Valli Varesine
- 8th Overall Tour of Austria
- 2014
- 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stage 15
- 4th Milano–Torino
- 5th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stages 11 & 18
- 7th Overall Giro del Trentino
- 9th Giro di Lombardia
- 2015
- 1st Overall Vuelta a España
- 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stages 19 & 20
- 1st Young rider classification
- Held
after Stage 13
- 2nd Overall Abu Dhabi Tour
- 2nd Tour of Almaty
- 3rd Milano–Torino
- 5th Overall Tour de Pologne
- 5th Overall UCI World Tour
- 6th Overall Volta a Catalunya
- 2016
- 6th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 9th Overall Volta ao Algarve
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giro |
42 | 3 | 2 |
| Tour |
– | – | – |
| Vuelta |
– | 5 | 1 |
WD = Withdrew; IP = In Progress
References
- ↑ Stephen Farrand. "Astana coach reveals training methods for Nibali and Aru ahead of Classics and Giro d'Italia". Cyclingnews.com.
- ↑ Stokes, Shane (8 August 2012). "Contract Roundup: Baby Giro runner-up Aru to Astana, Martens stays with Rabobank". VeloNation (VeloNation LLC). Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ↑ http://fabioaru.it/#bio
- ↑ Stephen Farrand. "Interview: Aru ready to take on Contador at the Giro d'Italia". Cyclingnews.com.
- ↑ "Fabio Aru: could he be Italy's next big thing? - Cycling Weekly". Cycling Weekly. 14 May 2014.
- ↑ "2014 International Breakthrough Rider of the Year: Fabio Aru". VeloNews.com.
- ↑ Spencer Powlison (3 September 2014). "Fabio Aru’s daring attack wins Vuelta stage 11". VeloNews (Competitor Group, Inc.). Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- ↑ Susan Westemeyer (11 September 2014). "Vuelta a España: Aru wins stage 18". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ↑ "Contador seals overall 2014 Vuelta a España victory". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ↑ Barry Ryan (22 April 2015). "Aru a "wreck" due to intestinal ailment". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ↑ Stuart Clarke (24 April 2015). "Aru to take legal action over Henderson tweets". Cycling Weekly (IPC Media Sports & Leisure network). Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ↑ Stephen Farrand (30 April 2015). "Aru training hard for the Giro d’Italia after stomach virus". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ↑ Emil Axelgaard (7 May 2015). "Aru extends contract with Astana". Cycling Quotes (CyclingQuotes.com 2013). Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ↑ "Contador retains Giro lead but loses 1 second to Aru". ksl.com.
- ↑ http://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Contador-retains-Giro-lead-but-loses-1-second-to-6269024.php
- ↑ "Fabio Aru takes Giro d'Italia leader's jersey after Alberto Contador crashes in stage 13". Mail Online.
- ↑ "Alberto Contador loses Giro d’Italia lead to Fabio Aru amid crash chaos". the Guardian.
- ↑ "Alberto Contador reclaims Giro lead from Fabio Aru after time trial". USA TODAY. 23 May 2015.
- ↑ Emil Axelgaard (29 May 2015). "Aru makes great comeback with big win in Giro mountains". Cycling Quotes (CyclingQuotes.com 2013). Retrieved 29 May 2015.
- ↑ "Giro d'Italia stage 20: Aru wins in Sestriere". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). 30 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ↑ "Fabio Aru takes red jersey in the Vuelta a España". RTÉ Sport. 2 September 2015.
- ↑ "Joaquim Rodriguez grabs the lead in Vuelta a España as Frank Schleck wins stage 16 - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online.
- ↑ fabio-aru-snatches-vuelta-a-espana-lead-in-thrilling-mountain-finale-191316
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fabio Aru. |
- Fabio Aru profile at Cycling Archives
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