Giuseppe Saronni, the former manager at UAE Team Emirates and still a senior adviser with the squad, said somebody in the set-up needs to answer for Fabio Aru’s poor performance at the Tour de France yesterday.
Aru abandoned the Tour having been dropped very early on stage 9, before being left behind by his team car, and later climbed off his bike and abandoned the Tour.
Saronni was very critical of Aru, saying his abandoning was a huge blow to Tadej Pogačar, who won yesterday’s stage 9 and is now in with a real chance of winning the race.
"When the athlete is
physically and muscularly suffering, some find the clarity and strength to
react; Fabio, on the other hand, doesn't do that. In terms of character, he is
not very strong,” Saronni said in stinging remarks live on TV in Italy.
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“In the difficulty he does
not give courage, unfortunately he collapses mentally and morally and makes
everything more difficult. It is clear that there is a strong character
component here.”
He said Aru abandoning the Tour meant the team had lost its only rider who may have been capable of helping Pogačar in the mountains, adding “for the umpteenth time Fabio disappointed us, at a time when we needed him so much”.
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Saronni believed staff on the team, whether coaches or others, who were charged with ensuring the riders were ready for the race, and had the condition for it, needed to bear some responsibility.
For his part, Aru said he
was very disappointed that his condition had deserted him on the Tour and was
very open in admitting he could not answer the question as to why his form was
so poor.
“I feel like I do not deserve this because I have always
been an exemplary professional and given my maximum commitment,” he said.
“The team does not deserve this either and I suffer a lot
in not being able to make my contribution as I would like to,” he added.
The Italian, a Vuelta winner
and six-time Grand Tour stage winner, had surgery last year to correct an
restriction in his iliac artery; a not uncommon issue for cyclists which limits
power in the legs.
After having that surgery
early last year he returned to racing and while he is yet to recapture his old
form, there were signs before the Tour he was coming around.
The 30-year-old was 12th overall this year in the Tour de Colombia and more recently placed 9th in the Vuelta a Burgos as well as claiming 5th in the Mont Ventoux Challenge just last month. He was also 14th overall at the Tour last year.
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