Giro d'Italia stage 15: Aru wins atop Montecampione

Thanks to a sensational solo victory at Plan de Montecampione, Astana's Fabio Aru pitched himself right into the battle for the Giro d'Italia crown. The young Sardinian waited until the final three kilometres of the iconic climb before making his move, attacking from the maglia rosa group and taking race leader Rigoberto Urán. The pair quickly got across to the two leaders on the road, Fabio Duarte and Pierre Rolland, with 2.3km remaining. Aru hardly paused before accelerating once again, and this time no one went with him.

Although Nairo Quintana came up to the group behind Aru and produced a couple of brief digs in the final kilometre, the Astana rider kept increasing his advantage all the way to the line, where he finished 21 seconds ahead of Duarte. His victory pushed him up to fourth place overall, 2.24 behind maglia rosa Urán, who fell back from Quintana, Rolland and Duarte in the final kilometre, but still managed to push his lead over second-placed Cadel Evans to just over a minute.

Fabio Aru could hardly have picked a better moment to clinch the first victory of his professional career. The 23-year-old Astana rider gave a majestic performance on the iconic climb up to Plan de Montecampione, producing a series of accelerations that left him left him 21 seconds clear of Fabio Duarte (Team Colombia) at the line. The Colombian led in Pierre Rolland (Europcar) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), with race leader Rigoberto Urán another 21 seconds back in fifth place.

Aru had already made one thwarted effort to escape from the maglia rosa group when, with 3km remaining, he pressed hard once again. Urán managed to get on his wheel, but second-placed Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) failed to bridge the gap. Urán was happy to let Aru set the pace as they closed in on Rolland, Duarte and Sky’s Philip Deignan at the head of the race.

As Deignan fell back after making a great effort to thwart the GC contenders, the two chasers made it across to Rolland and Duarte with 2.2km to the line. Rather than hesitating, Aru accelerated hard again, and this time no one went with him.

Although Quintana came up to the group behind Aru and produced a couple of brief digs in the final kilometre, the Astana rider kept increasing his advantage all the way to the line. His victory pushed him up to fourth place overall, 2-24 behind maglia rosa Urán, who could not stay with Quintana, Rolland and Duarte in the final kilometre, but still managed to push his lead over second-placed Evans to a minute and three seconds, with Tinkoff-Saxo’s Rafal Majka now 1-50 down in third place.

Aru’s victory pitched him right into the battle for the overall title. “I am very happy and can hardly believe it yet,” said the tearful Sardinian at the finish. “I must say thanks to the team, who stayed close to me all day. My team-mates were really exceptional. I’m really happy, but I’m not going to get ahead of myself. I’ve still got a lot to learn, and from tomorrow everything will be just as it was before.”

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How it unfolded

Although Montecampione was the only categorised climb on the stage, its length and difficulty meant that the riders who made it into the break needed a lead of several minutes at the foot of it if they were to have any chance of victory.

Maxime Bouet (Ag2r La Mondiale), Daniele Ratto (Cannondale), Johan Le Bon (Fdr.fr), Andre Cardoso (Garmin-Sharp), Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida), Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol), Simon Geschke (Giant-Shiamo), Luca Paolini (Katusha) and Fabio Felline (Trek Factory Racing) came together after 16km. Rodolfo Torres (Colombia), Jackson Rodríguez (Androni Giocattoli) and Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF) joined them another dozen kilometres later.

The break’s advantage swelled to 10 minutes with 80 of the 225km remaining. However, their hopes of hanging on to the finish all but went when Neri Sottoli, who had missed the move, went to the front of the peloton and started a fierce pursuit. With 50km remaining, the break’s lead was 6-18. When the lead group reached the initial ramps up to Montecampione, their advantage was a mere 2-24.

Hansen was the first of the escapees to make a move and the Australian was eventually joined by Cardoso, but their efforts to stay clear were always likely to be in vain as Ag2r and Movistar’s pace-making began to string the maglia rosa group out.

Mountains leader Julián Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) did manage to get clear of the fast-diminishing peloton, together with Bardiani’s Edoardo Zardini. Arredondo made it up to the lead group with the assistance of team-mate Felline. A flurry of attacks followed that left Cardoso and Arredondo at the front with 11km to go. But by now the peloton was just 30 seconds back.

With 10km to go, Deignan attempted to brighten what has been a disappointing race for the Irish riders by jumping clear of the peloton, where Mick Rogers was setting the pace for Tinkoff-Saxo leader Majka. Deignan was quickly up to and past the two leaders. His lead never reached much more than 20 seconds, but he stayed out on his own until he was inside 4km to go, when the GC contenders came to life.

Rolland went first, with Uran and Evans responding quickly. Evans tried his luck, then Rolland went again, and only Duarte chased him down. As the Frenchman and the Colombian glided across the gap to Deignan, the GC contenders tested each other out. Quintana had a dig, then Ryder Hesjedal, then Aru, before Steve Morabito went to the front of the maglia rosa group to tap out the pace for his BMC leader Evans.

Having quickly distanced Deignan, Rolland and Duarte led by 39 seconds with 3km remaining. It was at this moment, though, that Aru went into overdrive. Within a few hundred metres, the Sardinian had bridged up to the leading pair, Urán happy to sit on his wheel and get pulled away from his nearest GC rivals. However, even Urán could not follow when Aru went all out for the stage and in doing so emerged as a genuine contender for the maglia rosa.

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