Fabio Aru has agreed a contract extension that will keep him at Astana until the end of the 2017 season. The announcement comes two days ahead of the Giro d’Italia, where Aru will look to better his third place finish of last year.
General manager Alexander Vinokourov also confirmed that Aru will once again follow up the Giro by riding the Vuelta a España this year, rather than making his Tour de France debut this summer alongside defending champion Vincenzo Nibali.
“We are happy and proud to see him in our team colors at the start of the 2015 Giro.We can't wait to see what will happen in the next three weeks in Italy and the next three years around the world,” Vinokourov said in a statement on the team website.
"Fabio is 24 years old and has many years ahead of him in professional cycling. At every race he develops, he gains experience and as he races with our veterans he learns directly from champions what it means to be a champion. We will see great performances at the Giro and Vuelta this year, and, why not, maybe at Vincenzo Nibali's side in at the Tour de France in 2016."
A sudden bout of illness saw Aru miss the Giro del Trentino in the build-up to this Giro, where he leads a strong Astana team that also includes Dario Cataldo, Tanel Kangert, Mikel Landa, Paolo Tiralongo, Luis Leon Sanchez and Diego Rosa.
Wiggins to ride Cali Track World Cup
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Bradley Wiggins will begin his build-up to next year’s Olympic Games by riding the opening round of the Track World Cup in Cali, Colombia this October. Wiggins has confirmed his participation in the event, which takes place October 30-31 and provides vital qualification points for the Olympics.
Wiggins is set to bring his career to a close on the track at the Olympic Games in Rio next summer. He’ll make his first track appearance since leaving Team Sky in April when he makes his Hour Record attempt next month. Wiggins began his career on the track and has six world championships and three Olympic titles on the boards. His last World Cup appearance came in 2011 when he won Gold in the team pursuit with Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke and Ed Clancy.
Velon and RCS to provide on-board bike footage
Giro d’Italia organisers RCS Sport have signed a partnership with Velon to provide on-board bike footage from several stages at this year’s race.
On-board cameras will be fitted to bikes during eight stages of this year’s race - May 9-31, including Saturday’s opening team time trial, sprint stages and stage 16, which includes the Mortirolo and stage 20 which features the Colle delle Finestre.
RCS Sport's Giro d’Italia Director, Mauro Vegni, said: “It has always been important for us to bring fans close to the action and new technologies are making it possible to bring them into the peloton and show the Giro d’Italia, the hardest race in the world's most beautiful place, in a whole new perspective to fans all around the world,” Giro d’Italia Director, Mauro Vegni in a press release.
The on-board race footage will be released by RCS and Velon, as well as the teams, during the Giro d’Italia.
“RCS Sport have really got behind this project and we’re delighted to work with them on such an important race. The eight stages chosen will give a great insight into what it takes to win both stages and jerseys in a Grand Tour and we can’t wait to see the results,” said Graham Bartlett, CEO of Velon.
