SERRE-CHEVALIER, France (VN) — Astana, with a 31-second loss in stage 17 Wednesday, now says that Fabio Aru faces a “difficult” time to win the Tour de France.
The Italian from Sardinia faded under an attack by Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) and multiple sorties from Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) on the Galibier.
He slipped from second to fourth overall, sinking from 18 to 53 seconds behind race leader Chris Froome (Sky).
“To lose those 30 seconds today didn’t help. Now, it’s going to be difficult to win the Tour,” team boss Alexandre Vinokourov said. “Let’s see about the podium.”
Aru lost his way to the team bus after the stage, a telling sign of his day over some of the Tour’s most iconic Alpine climbs. Here on the Galibier in 1998, Italian Marco Pantani rode his way into history by dropping Jan Ullrich and setting himself up for the Giro d’Italia/Tour de France double victory.
Only Vincenzo Nibali, Aru’s former teammate, has been able to bring Italy a Tour de France victory since, in 2014. Aru, the tall and skinny star, appeared to be the next after his early stage win on La Planche des Belles Filles and two days in the yellow jersey.
“Why? An explanation?” Aru tried to come to grips with the Italian and international media centered on him and his nearby family, which flew in from Sardinia for these last stages.
“I lost time today. That’s it. For sure, I can’t be content. For sure, it’s not a great day for me, but this is cycling, and you have to accept these days when you lose.
“We were at a certain altitude when the attacks started to come. When Martin attacked, I didn’t have the energy to respond and that was it.”
“For sure, yesterday and today were hard — and tomorrow will be too. I lost to my direct rivals. It’s not a great thing, but this is cycling and you have to accept the times you lose.”
Aru’s responses gave little clarity, but simply stated the obvious. The reality is that he held his own to the top of the 2,642-meter pass, only distanced by 10 seconds, but drifted back in the strong valley headwinds to the finish in Serre-Chevalier.
“Always when you lose time, it’s a loss,” sports director Dimitri Fofonov said. “We only have the finish tomorrow to make up this time. We have the motivation, Aru has it, and he seems alive and arrived here lucid.”
The third and final summit finish of this Tour de France is programmed for Thursday to the Col d’Izoard. Aru, who conquered the 2015 Vuelta a España and stages in the Giro d’Italia, could still manage something in the Tour even if Vinokourov says the win is out of reach.
“We are not going to give up here,” added Vinokourov. “Tomorrow is the Izoard summit finish. It’s hard, and Fabio knows it well. He has this climb in his head for a long time now. He wants to win this stage. We are going to see how his legs are.”
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