48 Facts About Fabio Aru

Fabio Aru is known as "The Knight of the four Moors", a reference to his native island of Sardinia.

Alongside his stage wins, Fabio Aru has worn the race leader's jersey in all three Grand Tours.

In 2014, Fabio Aru placed third overall in the Giro d'Italia and fifth in the Vuelta a Espana.

Fabio Aru was born in San Gavino Monreale, Sardinia and was raised in Villacidro.

Fabio Aru joined the Palazzago team where he won the Giro della Valle d'Aosta in 2011 and 2012.

Fabio Aru joined Astana during the 2012 season after four years with the Palazzago domestic team in Italy.

Fabio Aru rode his first Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia, in support of team leader Vincenzo Nibali.

Fabio Aru helped Nibali win the race overall, finishing 42nd himself.

In 2014, Fabio Aru again rode the Giro d'Italia, with the expectation of supporting former winner Michele Scarponi.

However, Fabio Aru proved stronger than his teammate and on Stage 15 took his first professional victory by winning on the summit finish of Montecampione.

Fabio Aru went on to finish the Giro in third place overall behind Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Uran, reaching the podium in just his second Grand Tour.

Fabio Aru repeated the feat on Stage 18 finishing at Monte Castrove; he escaped with Chris Froome near the end of the climb and outsprinted his rival.

Fabio Aru finished the race, won by Alberto Contador, in fifth overall.

In 2015, Fabio Aru came in sixth at the Volta a Catalunya.

Greg Henderson accused Fabio Aru of faking the ailment, and actually skipping due to a pending biological passport case.

Fabio Aru promised to sue Henderson for his accusations as he was preparing for the Giro d'Italia.

However, in the first week of racing, Fabio Aru attacked Contador in the mountains as he was led by his Astana team, remaining only seconds behind Contador in the general classification battle.

When Contador crashed on stage 13 in a pile-up, Fabio Aru crossed the line well in front of Contador, securing the first pink jersey of his career.

However the next day, a 59.3-kilometre individual time trial, hyped as the Giro's determining day, Fabio Aru lost 2 and a half minutes to Contador, thus losing the pink jersey.

Fabio Aru lost more time in the Mortirolo stage, but bounced back on Stage 19 to take an emotional solo victory.

On Stage 20 featuring the Colle delle Finestre, Fabio Aru won his second consecutive stage, taking two minutes from Contador but failing to take the pink jersey.

Fabio Aru returned to racing at the Tour de Pologne and finished in 5th place as he prepared for his next season target, the Vuelta a Espana.

Fabio Aru performed well in the first week, taking the red leader's jersey after finishing second on stage 11, the Vuelta's queen stage.

Fabio Aru held the lead by a handful of seconds before losing it to Joaquim Rodriguez on stage 16.

Fabio Aru started his 2016 season, at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana where he finished 6th overall.

Fabio Aru then raced the Volta ao Algarve, and finished 9th overall after taking 2nd place on the last stage.

Fabio Aru took his only victory of the season, at the Criterium du Dauphine where he won Stage 3 after attacking on the downhill inside the last 15 kilometres of the stage.

Fabio Aru managed to get into the top 10 again on Stage 12 to Mont Ventoux.

Fabio Aru had a mechanical problem on the stage, and had problems getting back into the bunch before the climb to Mont Ventoux.

Fabio Aru received help from the Astana team car, as he was paced for a while, resulting in a time penalty post-stage.

Fabio Aru showed good form early on in the season with his first podium place coming at the Tour of Oman, where he finished 3rd overall.

Fabio Aru finished 8th overall in his following race at the Abu Dhabi Tour.

Fabio Aru received no fractures to the knee but it was swollen a lot, and he was recommended by a doctor to stay off the bike for several days in order to recover properly, missing the Giro d'Italia as a result.

One week before the Tour de France, Fabio Aru won the Italian National Road Race Championships for the first time in his career.

Fabio Aru later described this victory as the best moment in his career.

At the Tour de France, Fabio Aru won the 5th stage attacking on the climb to La Planche des Belles Filles, 2.2 kilometres from the finish line.

The camera captured Fabio Aru attacking from behind right when he realized Froome had a mechanical.

Fabio Aru started his season at the Abu Dhabi Tour but only finished 13th overall.

However, on the following mountain stages, Fabio Aru did not manage to finish with the strongest riders meaning that he dropped to 22nd place after the 2nd week of racing.

Fabio Aru finished 8th on the stage but was later penalised due to pacing.

Fabio Aru explained he had suffered from a gluten and dairy intolerance since 2015 but never got to the bottom of it.

Fabio Aru started the Vuelta a Espana as one of the main favourites.

Fabio Aru reacting angrily while calling for a new bike; as a result, he had to formally apologise to Colnago's Ernesto Colnago by telephone after the stage.

In March 2019, following a disappointing start of the season, Fabio Aru was diagnosed with a constriction of the iliac artery and underwent an angioplasty surgery, which forced him out from racing for several months.

In December 2020, Fabio Aru signed a one-year contract with Team Qhubeka Assos, for the 2021 season.

Shortly before the Vuelta a Espana, Fabio Aru announced that he would retire from cycling at the conclusion of the race.

Fabio Aru suffers from a gluten and dairy intolerance which means he struggles with food intake.

Fabio Aru has cut away dairy from his diet, and has limited the amount of pasta he eats in order to keep his diet on track.