Aru rues poor positioning as yellow goes begging
RODEZ, France: Fabio Aru admitted he had been caught out of position as he lost the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey to reigning champion Chris Froome on Saturday.
He started the day six seconds ahead of the Briton but now trails the three-time champion by 18sec after coming home 30th overall, 25sec behind stage 14 winner Michael Matthews.
“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 Sunday’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.
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.