Teams & Riders Fabio Aru discussion thread

[Jelantik]

his team put him in a good position. So he doesn't have to labour so much to chip any time deficit until ITT. Great ride by Astana team to put him in a nice position behind Contador and ahead of Uran and Porte. Dunno if it's coincidence, but both climber Alberto and Aru are ahead of the ITT specialist Uran and Porte.

 

[DBotero]

Impressive result for Astana,really didn't expected it at all.Aru was also saying something about a possible surprise in the ITT from him,so he looks really set.An Aru in good shape is good for the show,the mountains will be fun.

 

[sir fly]

Judging by the ttt, the kid will be a tough nut to crack.
Looks like he's well recovered from the sickness, although the days spent in bed might get to him later on.

 

[Der Effe]

Poor, poor Fabio was so ill!

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Re:

Poor, poor Fabio was so ill!

Being too sick to start arace 3 weeks ago yes, so sick that 6 months of preperation disapears out the window in a matter of a week. No.

 

[jens_attacks]

grande !!!!!!!!

 

[IndianCyclist]

dysentery does not mean sick if properly hydrated and its easy to regain power

 

[SeriousSam]

 

[Marco Pantani]

Aru is my pick for the win this year, although my head says Contador. Astana looks very strong and if he is even going on the attack on the hills, he'll be irresistible on the real climbs.

 

[trevim]

Kind of interesting to see how much Aru has developed in the past 8 months since the Vuelta where he was very good but still easily beaten by an off-shape Contador, Froome, Valverde and even Rodriguez.

 

[sir fly]

Aru and Astana look like the most serious gang after today's stage.

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

Aru and Astana look like the most serious gang after today's stage.

I agree. His team was very impressive today. Decimating the peloton on medium mountain stage! shaving 10 minutes to 22 second?.. They are impressive in climbing and equally impressive in downhill. I'm wondering, are they going to show up when Sky turns the screw tomorrow?

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

Aru and Astana look like the most serious gang after today's stage.

I agree. His team was very impressive today. Decimating the peloton on medium mountain stage! shaving 10 minutes to 22 second?.. They are impressive in climbing and equally impressive in downhill. I'm wondering, are they going to show up when Sky turns the screw tomorrow?

I think they'll let Sky set the tempo on these medium difficult mountain stages. After the itt they should be more prominent at the front. Not because of eventual time loss, but 'cause the profiles suite them much more.

 

[hfer07]

Oh man - ARU is on fire!!!!! and Astana for that matter!! what a great performance they've done so far. Looking forward to the "real mountains" to see the Angel taking off & flying way

 

[SeriousSam]

Would Aru have managed to catch Contador without Big Richie offering him a friendly wheel? Landa getting there and Aru even attacking suggests so, but there was a moment of uncertainty where he didn't seem confident closing down AC when the latter sustained the attack slightly longer than expected. Instead he looked around for Porte's help.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Aru tends to close gaps in a more relaxed manner than most (using more time), but indeed, he didn't seem to be the strongest today.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Would Aru have managed to catch Contador without Big Richie offering him a friendly wheel? Landa getting there and Aru even attacking suggests so, but there was a moment of uncertainty where he didn't seem confident closing down AC when the latter sustained the attack slightly longer than expected. Instead he looked around for Porte's help.

Who cares. In the end he took 4 seconds off Bertie's lead and anyway Landa was there, as strong as RV Porte and Contador while setting up Aru's devastating sprint. It is still wide open, I haven't seen anything to change my mind that Aru will be at least second in this Giro.

 

[Wallenquist]

Re:

Would Aru have managed to catch Contador without Big Richie offering him a friendly wheel? Landa getting there and Aru even attacking suggests so, but there was a moment of uncertainty where he didn't seem confident closing down AC when the latter sustained the attack slightly longer than expected. Instead he looked around for Porte's help.

Yes, he would be able to bridge. Contador is very explosive, he can gain quite a big advantage with a short jump but he cant keep that pace for a long period. Sooner or later Aru would catch him, he tried immediately and failed but it doesnt matter.

 

[Eshnar]

Aru was definitely struggling to close the gap, but then again AC couldn't keep that pace as well, so I guess it was just a very optimistic attack by the Spaniard

 

[SergeDeM]

Aru looking great. After last year we know he can keep it together for three weeks so it looks like AC has a worthy rival for this Giro.
I'm enjoying this Giro.

 

[sir fly]

Re:

Aru was definitely struggling to close the gap, but then again AC couldn't keep that pace as well, so I guess it was just a very optimistic attack by the Spaniard

After another look at the decisive moments, my impression is that Aru wanted to force Porte to take over (and finish off) the bridging job, after he did majority of the work and played a pursuit target for Porte.

 

[rm7]

Re: Re:

Aru was definitely struggling to close the gap, but then again AC couldn't keep that pace as well, so I guess it was just a very optimistic attack by the Spaniard

After another look at the decisive moments, my impression is that Aru wanted to force Porte to take over (and finish off) the bridging job, after he did majority of the work and played a pursuit target for Porte.

If he waited for Porte to close the gap, it was a smart move. But it didn't look like it. When they caught Contador his attack was really weak. He shouldn't do this small meaningless attacks like Nibali sometime does.

 

[l.Harm]

I liked it when he attacked although it looked he was struggling very much. Porte and Contador hold his wheel pretty easily, but it showed his attacking mentality. Definitely a pleasure to watch this young man.

 

[sir fly]

Yes, Aru's attack was easily neutralized (just like Richie's, was). Maybe because the road flattened, maybe because he was spent from chases.
Anyway, it's been more a mental than a racing move: "You wanna race? I can do what you can do...".

 

[meat puppet]

Surprisungly few messages here. 20sec gap to richie and bert today at the very least.