Giro d’Italia 2018, Aru: “I don’t feel the pressure, I am confident”

Fabio Aru is excited of being in Israel at the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia 2018. The Italian moved from Astana to UAE Team Emirates last winter and is heading to his seasonal main goal. Aru doesn’t feel any pressure of being part of an Arabian team racing on Israeli soil and he’s comfortable with the facts he hasn’t stepped up yet on the winner’s spot of the Giro’s podium. Aru considers the last 10 days of racing the decisive ones but he’s aware of avoiding to understimate the first week. The opening stage is tricky and time trials aren’t on paper a friendly specialty to the Sardinian.

Fabio Aru: “I don’t feel the pressure, I am confident”

“I feel well. I’ve never been in Israel before and today I’ve had a three hours ride. I figured out the area around Jerusalem isn’t neither flat nor hilly. I’m here to do my job and I am ready to get rolling. I don’t feel the pressure to be twenty-seven without having achieved the success in the GC. There are hundreds of riders but not everyone has won a Grand Tour. By the way I am confident about doing well“.

Aru didn’t forget to speak on his rivals. “Pozzovivo, Pinot and Lopez were doing very good at the Tour of the Alps. To be honest 4 or 5 riders were in better shape than I two weeks ago but the time for the Giro has come and we’ll see as the race goes on”.

Aru considers the last 1o days of racing the focal point of the Corsa Rosa. “The course is very demanding and the last ten days of racing will be very hard. However, there’s no reason to undervalue the first half of the Giro because, starting from the three stages in Sicily, the route is very rough”.