ARU RUES BAD POSITION
Italian surrenders yellow jersey to Froome
RODEZ
“I was too far back at the start of the (final) climb,” said Aru.
“There was a break in the bunch and I had to put in a huge effort to close the gap, which I then paid for when there was another break.
“That’s what explains the gap (to Froome).
“There’s no point stating that I would have preferred to keep the jersey. An (18)-second gap is not nothing but there will be a very challenging last week. “Everything is not lost!”
Aru even said he believes today’s 15th stage in the Massif Central, that includes four categorised climbs, will see more time gaps amongst the leaders.
“Now I’m just thinking about recovering,” he added. Christopher Froome delighted to have the yellow jersey back on Saturday.
Astana sports director Giuseppe Martinelli took the loss on the chin.
“We didn’t expect to lose the jersey today but we’ve lost it,” he said.
“We’re not going to turn it into a drama. Maybe it’s better because
the next stage will be hard to manage.
“We need to remain serene, tomorrow we can stay calm and there’s always the Alps to come.
“(18) seconds is a gap but you can get that back in the big climbs.”
Aru’s troubles stemmed in part from the weakness of his team, being unable to protect him on Friday or Saturday.
But his Danish team-mate Michael Valgren suggested Aru was to blame for losing time on Saturday.
“I don’t know (what happened). Ask him. I tried to take him to the front, but he didn’t stick on my wheel,” said Valgren, who seemed relieved to have lost the jersey.
Froome too is delighted to have the jersey back so his Sky teammates can control the stages better than Astana managed on Friday, when attacks came from all angles all day long.
“Yesterday (Friday) the race was in bits with Astana trying to control it,” said Froome.
“They didn’t have the numbers and strength up there and as a consequence the race blew apart.
“I’d like to think when we were controlling the race it was a bit calmer.
“We’ll see tomorrow, it’s the last stage before the rest day. It will be all hands on deck because it will be a war.” AFP