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Teams & Riders Fabio Aru discussion thread

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May0maniac

May0maniac

Jun 30, 2014
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Re: Re:

staubsauger said:
Mayomaniac said:
Isn't Aru mostly working with Maurizio Mazzoleni instead of Slongo?
Click to expand...
That could be true. Although there was an article last year where Slongo stated they increased Aru's rpm to 90 going uphill.
Click to expand...
It could explain the fact that the rest of the team was good and peaking at the right time (apparently Rosa suffered from dehydration on stage 5, so he suffered a bit on the first week mountain stages after riding a great Dauphine).
Still, he had 1 bad gt and wasn't able to really peak for the Tour, let's hope that he'll bounce back next year. Vino already said that Aru probably won't ride the Vuelta, they still have to work on a schedule for him after Rio, so he's probably going to race the Italian autumn classics, the Vuelta team will probably consist of Superman Lopez, Scarponi, Cataldo and maybe Rosa.
 
SafeBet

SafeBet

Sep 2, 2011
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Aru has always been the master of super peak. He never does much outside of the GTs he's targetting, so 2016 is the norm rather than the exception. The problem is that he failed miserably in his only goal of the season, hence the whole season now looks like a waste now.
I heard his interview after the stage. He said he doesn't have an explanation for his collapse. It wasn't a hunger knock and he wasn't feeling the cold. And his preparation was actually very good (by the words of his own coach Mazzoleni).
I do believe Aru had never experienced such a high competition in a GT, I presume his watt numbers were comparable to the ones in last year's Giro and Vuelta. The problem is that in this TdF there were 8-10 riders producing the same amount of watts. What happened in stage 20 could be an effect of all the efforts of the previous stages, something he was not used to. Even in his best GTs, he always looked to me like a rider on his limit and likely to crack at a certain point.

To reply to movingtarget: I'm still convinced Astana was hitting peak shape at the right time. Rosa, Tiralongo, Nibali, Lulu and Kangert were going way faster than at the beginning of the Tour. There's no easy explanation for Aru's collpase, but his MTT result shows his shape was on the rise to me.
Sometimes riders crack. We tend to believe pro athletes are robots who can always perform at the same level, but this is an illusion. There are a few exceptions of course, and those are the ones we call champions, natural freaks, whatever.

This TdF actually made me like Aru a little more. He finally showed his human side.
 
jalep

jalep

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Interesting points about Aru, Safebet. After his performance in the MTT, I was hopeful about Aru getting a podium place and -- perhaps a stage even a win on one of the remaining mountain stages. He didn't have enough to make it. He's human. Is he riding the Vuelta?
 
jalep

jalep

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Re:

staubsauger said:
Not quite sure, yet. But apparently he ain't gonna race the Tour of Spain. It's the Olympics followed up by the Italian fall classics instead.
Click to expand...

Oops, Tour of Spain = Vuelta a Espana. Not quite sure yet? sounds sure, then, right?
 
M

movingtarget

Aug 5, 2009
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Re:

SafeBet said:
Aru has always been the master of super peak. He never does much outside of the GTs he's targetting, so 2016 is the norm rather than the exception. The problem is that he failed miserably in his only goal of the season, hence the whole season now looks like a waste now.
I heard his interview after the stage. He said he doesn't have an explanation for his collapse. It wasn't a hunger knock and he wasn't feeling the cold. And his preparation was actually very good (by the words of his own coach Mazzoleni).
I do believe Aru had never experienced such a high competition in a GT, I presume his watt numbers were comparable to the ones in last year's Giro and Vuelta. The problem is that in this TdF there were 8-10 riders producing the same amount of watts. What happened in stage 20 could be an effect of all the efforts of the previous stages, something he was not used to. Even in his best GTs, he always looked to me like a rider on his limit and likely to crack at a certain point.

To reply to movingtarget: I'm still convinced Astana was hitting peak shape at the right time. Rosa, Tiralongo, Nibali, Lulu and Kangert were going way faster than at the beginning of the Tour. There's no easy explanation for Aru's collpase, but his MTT result shows his shape was on the rise to me.
Sometimes riders crack. We tend to believe pro athletes are robots who can always perform at the same level, but this is an illusion. There are a few exceptions of course, and those are the ones we call champions, natural freaks, whatever.

This TdF actually made me like Aru a little more. He finally showed his human side.
Click to expand...

I guess anyone can have an off day especially in the Tour. It might be a good experience for him anyway. But now he has had a training fall which won't help his preparation. I thought the first TT in the Giro was going to be a really long one but I just checked the route and it's only 39 kms. Maybe it was just a rumor. Or maybe my age and memory have created a perfect storm of forgetfulness !
 
May0maniac

May0maniac

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He won't be able to ride for at least 10 days.
http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/2017/04/...hio-franco-combi-visita-al-ginocchio-consulto
He won't be able to ride the Giro del Trentino or Romandie and maybe he'll even miss the Giro. :(
He wants to ride the Giro at all costs because of the gd in Sardinia, but with such a hard first week and a messed up preparation riding for gc will be really hard.
If he really wants to go to the Giro he could just take it day by day and try to go stagehunting in the 3rd week if he looses too much time.
If he looses a ton of time and is able to ride into top shape in the 3rd week, then maybe they could send him to the Tour afterwards, not as a gc rider, but stagehunting in the high mountains and the Polka Dot Jersey would be a good goal and also a great way to bounce back after that meltdown on the final mountain stage.
 
May0maniac

May0maniac

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Yes, that would probably be the better option, it's probably up to the team.
Aru badly wants to ride the Giro because of the start in Sardinia, he'll race it even if that means giving up on riding for gc and just go stagehunting.
 
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