Aru climbs to 5th in Tour of the Alps overall

Fabio Aru closed the third stage of the Tour of the Alps in seventh place and moved up four places in the overall, now 50 seconds form the new leader Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).

The stage produced several surprises with attacks coming one after another from the best classification men on the first category climb over the Passo della Mendola. The climb, averaging 6.4%, left 40 kilometres to race to the finish in Merano and caused a selection in a stage that should have been one of the more relaxed of the week.

“I feel that I lack a little bit of shine and nimbleness, but I’m happy with how I’m managing this Tour of the Alps,” Aru said.

“It helps me greater than imagined. Above all, racing it like I’m doing, day after day, always at the front.”

Tomorrow, the riders face the fourth of five stages of the Tour of the Alps. The stage covers 134.3 kilometres from Chusa to Lienz, which is over the border in Austria.

Stage 3 finish order

1 O’Connor Ben (Aus) Dimension Data 3h30’05”

2 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama – FDJ 5″

3 Pozzovivo Domenico (Ita) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 5″

7 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 5″

The overall after 3 stages

1 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama – FDJ 10h52’19”

2 Pozzovivo Domenico (Ita) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 15″

3 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 15″

5 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 50″