"A bad day can happen, the important thing is to fight back"
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Fabio Aru lost time to Alberto Contador at the finish of Thursday's 12th stage.
Alberto Contador stayed safe on the F1 track in Imola(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Fabio Aru (Astana) on the stage 12 start line
Fabio Aru (Astana) on the podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fabio Aru (Astana)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Fabio Aru tried to put on a brave face after his bad day at the Giro d'Italia but his position on the bike and especially his face as he crossed the finish line in the rain told a different story.
The Astana team leader started the Giro d'Italia aggressively but now seems to be on the back foot. He was unable to go on the attack and distance Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) in the hilly stages after his shoulder injury, and Contador has now attacked him on back to back stages and twice revealed weaknesses.
Aru crossed the line in 26th place on the Monte Berico hills overlooking Vicenza, after fighting to stay in contact as Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Contador surged to the line. He was among the wheels in the long line of riders but race officials ruled that there were gaps between the riders, meaning Aru was timed as finishing eight seconds behind Contador. The Spaniard also collected a six-second time bonus for second place, shunting Aru to 17 seconds back in the overall classification.
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
