Fabio Aru (Astana)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fabio Aru (Astana) relaxes during a massage (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Fabio Aru (Astana) (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Fabio Aru (Astana)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Fabio Aru (Astana) celebrates his second Vuelta stage win(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Thumbs up for Fabio Aru (Astana)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Fabio Aru has confirmed that he has made a full recovery from the stomach virus that forced him to miss last week’s Giro del Trentino and is confident he will be ready to lead the Astana team at the Giro d’Italia.
The 24 year-old Sardinian finished third in the 2014 Giro d’Italia and then was fifth in the Vuelta a Espana. He is considered one of the favourites for overall victory this year alongside Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Richie Porte (Team Sky).
However his final preparation for the Giro d’Italia was disrupted by a nasty stomach virus that forced him to withdraw from the Giro del Trentino. He reportedly lost five kilogrammes but is now training for the Giro d’Italia in the Sestriere ski resort near the French border. Aru has only raced for 15 days so far this season but revealed he has clocked up 15,000km in training since November. On Wednesday Aru was seen training in the snow near Sestriere. He told Gazzetta dello Sport that he did a seven-hour rider, covering 210km and 4000 metres of climbing, along with Astana teammates Dario Cataldo, Diego Rosa and Paolo Tiralongo. Today he posted an Instagram photo of himself enjoying a rest day ride with his teammates but he will continue to train in Sestriere until the weekend.
“I’m finally starting to feel better after four difficult days last week. I felt pretty bad at first and struggled to train well but I’ve got two good training rides in my legs now and I’m feeling better,” Aru told Cyclingnews.
“It’s cost me some form, it affected my training schedule. I won’t be at my very best at the start of the Giro d’Italia but I should be okay. I’ve worked hard and I’m recovering the training I lost. I think I’ll be at 90 per cent of my best at the start of the Giro.”
Legal action against Henderson
While Aru was recovering from his virus last week, he was accused of being caught up in a UCI Biological Passport case by Lotto Soudal rider Greg Henderson via Twitter. Henderson later cancelled the tweets and apologised but Aru confirmed to Cyclingnews that he would take legal action to defend his name. He also confirmed to Cyclingnews that he is not involved in a UCI Biological Passport case.
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Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
