Teams & Riders Fabio Aru discussion thread

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

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

He looked the worst of the three on stage 5 IMO

 

[Carols]

His team are Monsters and Aru gave it his best shot. He just couldn't get rid of the others and actually looked like he would be dropped at one point, but recovered nicely. Astana could make it very difficult tomorrow in order to try and get him some time. By Tuesday Alberto should be pretty well recovered so Aru can't wait around if he wants to win this thing.

 

[Beech Mtn]

He knows.

At least they got their stage win today, so maybe Vino can relax on that front for a little bit.

 

[rm7]

At only 24 he's very impressive. Looking forward to Aru vs Quintana battles in the mountains in a few years! And the best thing is, that neither of them have det advantage of a impressive TT like Contador had against Andy Schleck.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

indeed. Still fighting for the youth classification
We shouldn't forget that he started to focus on cycling, and race late as well, so at least on paper he has quite a few years in front of him where he can progress

 

[Carols]

Well Aru and Astana gave it another go today. Kudos to Tira, I like him . Aru less impressive. Maybe he is still recovering for his illness a few weeks back. But he couldn'y put away an injured Contador and Alberto is starting to ride without favoring that shoulder. By next week he should be firing on all cylinders and then we'll see what the youngster has to offer in response.

Aru is still very young and not afraid to attack . A kid with a real future!

Astana well they are Strong......

 

[Taxus4a]

Aru is a very agressive rider when he can. it is a pleasure to see his attacks.

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

Aru is a very agressive rider when he can. it is a pleasure to see his attacks.

with his rate of his improvement, do you think he'll push Nibali as the top dog in Astana?

 

[Bushman]

He is already a better climber than Nibali, but of course Nibali is still the better stage racer due to his allround ability.

 

[boringboy]

I like him as well, nice to see someone who is not afraid of attacking, should be fun to watch next few year.

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

He is already a better climber than Nibali, but of course Nibali is still the better stage racer due to his allround ability.

Aru has never pushed the watts Nibali had in last year TdF, so no.

 

[Taxus4a]

Anyway Astana should alow Landa to attack from far. Aru is better in ITT and has showed he can finish in a GT podium, but who knows if Landa can with 3 weaks. climbs as Mortirolo or Finestre suit him quite well. Maybe Landa is even better than aru in the big mountains. But I like that kind of riders not afraid gto attack, as Aru, Contador, Froome, but Aru attack and attack... I think Porte is inteligent riding this way, I cant say him anything, but as spectator I am happy this way of attacks.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

He is already a better climber than Nibali, but of course Nibali is still the better stage racer due to his allround ability.

Aru has never pushed the watts Nibali had in last year TdF, so no.

Yes, he has improved but Nibali in peak shape is still better.
Yes, he seems to be approximately as strong as Valverde in a typical Vuelta, but that's just my opinion.
We'll see his real strength in the 3rd week.

 

[Bushman]

Re: Re:

He is already a better climber than Nibali, but of course Nibali is still the better stage racer due to his allround ability.

Aru has never pushed the watts Nibali had in last year TdF, so no.

Cycling isn't all about numbers though.

I know it's just an opinion that I can't really support with any facts, but I feel like Aru has already surpassed Nibali in terms of climbing. But we will see in the third week how Aru goes.

 

[SeriousSam]

How is it not about numbers (namely sustainable power and weight) how quickly you can go up a mountain?

Aru might have more climber's 'panache', whatever that means. Aru is better than Nibali was at Aru's age. Aru might be a better climber than Nibali was when he won the Giro. But he is certainly not better than Nibali was in 2014, as in, capable of riding up those climbs even quicker than Nibali did. You think Aru could have stayed on Nibali's wheel up Hautacam?

If Contador finds it very hard to drop him in the 3rd week, then Aru might be on that level. But he hasn't shown enough to warrant that conclusion yet.

 

[antmills]

Re:

Hi guys, did you watch the stage today?

he was brilliant

Who was?

 

[antmills]

Re:

Well Aru and Astana gave it another go today. Kudos to Tira, I like him . Aru less impressive. Maybe he is still recovering for his illness a few weeks back. But he couldn'y put away an injured Contador and Alberto is starting to ride without favoring that shoulder. By next week he should be firing on all cylinders and then we'll see what the youngster has to offer in response.

Aru is still very young and not afraid to attack . A kid with a real future!

Astana well they are Strong......

.... Of course Astana are "strong"!

 

[SeriousSam]

“It’s not only difficult to beat Contador, it’s all but impossible,” Martinelli told VeloNews. “What Fabio should do is improve on his third place from last year, and a second place overall right now, I’d take that.”

Racing for second already. It's like the Tour 2014.

 

[SafeBet]

They never really believed he could beat Contador, I fear. And at the moment Aru looks like someone who's missed some days of training at the wrong time. Maybe Astana knows he's going to fade, and that would explain why they are trying to have as many options still in GC contention. I wouldn't be surprised if Landa or Cataldo end up being the best placed Astana riders at the end of the Giro. Could be pessimism on my part, but he really looked sluggish yesterday.

 

[Brullnux]

Astana are riding this Giro not so much for Aru but for Nibali. They know Aru can't beat Contador, not yet anyway, so decide put on an I redibly high pace every day for the first 2 weeks so that it becomes a difficult Giro, not ana easy one as maybe some predicted. This will make Contador tired heading into the Tour De France - allowing an easier ride for Nibali to defend his title as one of the main contenders is tired and won't last all 3 weeks at the top level. Astana will continue driving an insane pace for the next week in hope that Contadot runs out of legs for July.

 

[BeagRigh]

Re:

Astana are riding this Giro not so much for Aru but for Nibali. They know Aru can't beat Contador, not yet anyway, so decide put on an I redibly high pace every day for the first 2 weeks so that it becomes a difficult Giro, not ana easy one as maybe some predicted. This will make Contador tired heading into the Tour De France - allowing an easier ride for Nibali to defend his title as one of the main contenders is tired and won't last all 3 weeks at the top level. Astana will continue driving an insane pace for the next week in hope that Contadot runs out of legs for July.

I think this is certain in their mind.

I also suppect they might have been trying to get Aru into Pink in the first 2 weeks, knowing he was likely to lose it in the TT.

If he'd worn Pink, finished 2nd to Contador overall and made the race hard I think they'd call that a job well done.

Hopefully yesterday was just a blip and he will be flying in the mountains next week....

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

“It’s not only difficult to beat Contador, it’s all but impossible,” Martinelli told VeloNews. “What Fabio should do is improve on his third place from last year, and a second place overall right now, I’d take that.”

Racing for second already. It's like the Tour 2014.

It was obvious from the beginning that everybody was racing for second except nobody told us yet. In Aru's case, until now the team did everything to make the race hard for Contador but Fabio didn't deliver. From tomorrow it will be mostly only him against Bertie and that means it's over.

 

[Carols]

Aru is only 24 and has a bright future. He will gain a lot of experience here that will assist him moving forward. Meanwhile Astana is definitely the strongest team and can wear down Contador for July without winning this race. It's a shame Aru didn't get the jersey early on for a couple of days. There is still a long way to go, anything can happen. But Contador is beginning to expose the young lads weakness.

 

[staubsauger]

Aru maybe never had a true chance, but went for it multiple times. He's a greater challenger than Andy Schleck yet already!

He will still win this Giro by going mortal combat mode on Mortirolo or Finestre, of course!

 

[Ataraxus]

Re:

“It’s not only difficult to beat Contador, it’s all but impossible,” Martinelli told VeloNews. “What Fabio should do is improve on his third place from last year, and a second place overall right now, I’d take that.”

Racing for second already. It's like the Tour 2014.

And Tour 2013

Anyways, Astana racing for second would be terrible terrible news for the spectacle in this Giro. It basically means the USPS towing the Maglia Rosa up the climbs and any attack from Quickstep and Sky being neutralized by the turquoise armada with Contador happy to follow wheels.
A scenario of 3 Astanas and an isolated Contador in Edolo or Pragelato could happen still. I hope Astanas will put on the moves then. If they don't we are bound to see the most boring Mortirolo stage ever and a Finestre stage as boring as the 2011 one.