Aru celebrates moving into third place overall at the Giro d'Italia
Young Sardinꦑian becomes a n❀ew Italian hero after Cimas Grappa time trial
Fabio Aru (Astana) missed out on the stage victory at the summit of Cima Grappa but the 23-year-old Italian celebrated after the stage, knowing his impressive ride in the 26.8km cronoscalata had almost certainly secured him a place ꧂on the final podium in Trieste on Sunday.
Italian cycling has been in agony in recent months, with o𒉰nly Vincenzo Nibali showing signs of being able to compete against the best in the world in stage races. Now Aru is the tifosi's new 😼hero and the heir to Nibali's crown.
Aru finished seventeen seconds slower than Nairo Quintana (Movistar) but his excellent performance distanced po🦄dium rivals Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Raf𒆙al Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Aru is n⛎ow third overall behind Quintana, with Uran only 41 seconds ahead of him. Rolland slipped to four✱th, 1:38 down on the young Sardinian.
"It was a huge effort, I was right at my limits for an hou🦩r. I'm tired now but obviously very happy," he said after waving to the Sardinian fans who had also climbed Cima Grappa to cheer him on.
I never thought I'd be on the podium at the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Giro d'Italia. I've worked hard all winter and made a lot of sacrifices and so it's paid off. But doing so well is new🅰 to me. It's been great to do so well in front of my fans, family and girlfriend from Sardinia. That gave me some extra strength and motivation on the climb today."
Too early to celebrate
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The Italian media was ready to celebr🐓ate Aru's third place overall and even built up hopes that he could try to move past Rigobert🅰o Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) on the steep slopes of Monte Zoncolan on Saturday. Aru reminded them that the Giro d'Italia ends in Trieste on Sunday, not today.
"I'm y🗹oung but I've learned that stage races aren’t over until you cross t𒅌he line on the final day, so you've always got to be careful," he said.
"I'm really happy for this result but I've got to stayꦑed focused for tomorrow's finish on Monte Zoncolan. It's a legendary climb but it's also very hard. We've got some suffering left to get through."
Yet he did not rule out trying to crack Uran and take 💧second overall.
"Uran is a great rider. I'll give my best and go flat out. We'll see what happens and🎉 see the final result on Sunday."
Stephen is one of the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.