Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) was amongst seven riders who abandoned the Giro d’Italia on yesterday’s nineteenth stage. The Italian champion had been sitting in 27th place overall prior to the stage.
Aru, who finished 2nd overall in the 2015 edition of the Giroand 3rd overall in 2014, quit the race after 40 kilometres of the 184-kilometre mountainous stage from Venaria Reale to Bardonecchia which included the climbs of the Colle del Lys, Colle delle Finestre, Sestriere and Jafferau.
“I had said that I’ll evaluate my feelings day by day because I feel that I’m going through an abnormal period of my sporting career,” said Aru after the stage.
“I wanted to keep going and honour the team’s jersey, give the fans something and the race its due respect. But I could not do it. I’m really sorry for all this, for my team, my family and the sponsors that I represent, but it didn’t male sense to go ahead.
“I’m not going to be dramatic, this is sport and maybe, even if it hurts to say so now, this is the beauty of the sport. I’ll try to reset and understand together with the team what happened, then I’ll restart thinking of the rest of the season. Because this is what you have to do in difficult moments.”
