Fabio Aru Heading to Colorado to Prep for Giro

Fabio Aru Heading to Colorado to Prep for Giro
Stage winner Fabio Aru of Italy breaks away from the group of favorites, rear, in the fifth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 160.5 kilometers (99.7 miles) with start in Vittel and finish in La Planche des Belles Filles, France, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. (Lionel Bonaventure, Pool via AP)

Fabio Aru is looking to hit reset heading into the 2019 season after his “darkest moments” yet during 2018.

Aru abandoned the Giro d’Italia, renounced his sponsors during a crash at the Vuelta a España, and sat out of Italy’s World Championships team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaqs6_RslM8

“I want to cancel 2018, one of the darkest moments of my career,” Aru told  La Gazzetta dello Sport  reflecting on the 2019 Giro d’Italia.

So what’s Aru’s plan to turn it around?  Aru announced this week that he’ll return to the Giro d’Italia. He will begin his season in Mallorca on January 31, race in Algarve, Portugal, and Catalunya, Spain. Then he will travel to the U.S.

We are followed by coaches from the University of Colorado in Boulder, our head coach Iñigo San Millan has lived there for years.

And, coincidentally, I had my first race in the pros as a stagiaire: it was the Tour of Colorado in 2012, I arrived second in a stage.

It will be interesting to see if a little time at altitude in Colorado allows Aru to return to his previous form (second to Alberto Contador in the 2015 Giro) or better.

You stay in Boulder, and you always ride above 1,500 meters.

You go up to the Independence Pass at 3,900 meters. Beautiful roads, good climate. Peter Sagan is very fond of this area.

Aru now has his schedule planned through the Giro d’Italia, though he’s undecided when it comes to Liège-Bastogne-Liège. After that, he will make a decision regarding the Tour de France in July.