as someone who knows personally Fabio, he just lost it after the operation. I've also rode with him quite a lot, and i can say that in the last years he wasnt a perfect professional. He would find excuses many times to not try and stay at home(he has a lovely wife and a beautiful girl). When we were out and stopped, he wouldnt care about what to drink or eat, very often taking beers and sweets. Before the operation he was such a fucking beast, despite huge back problems. He trained like a maniac and was slim as fuck, while this past few years he was quite "fat". So sad to see him retire, but he made the right choice, being a professional cyclist requires shit ton of time, and he preferes to spend it on his family. In his situation i would have done the same
Very interesting comment. It's only fair to be human and have some weak times and not fully committing. It's still quite nice to read about some honest inside view and understand more about the reasons for his latter career. Better than those excuses or denial which mostly feature the official statements by team or rider.
@@1dree1 fabio won in life. Made milions and most importantly built a beautiful family. I havents seen him in a while now but i can tell he's way happier
@@blackpaint9093 Fair enough. :-) Doesn't have to be all about cycling. More over we're all just human and can't be full on all the time I suppose. Didn't mean my comment in a disrespectful way. More like a cycling fan who watches and wonders. Thanks for your inside view.
Maybe the question shouldn't be 'what happened' but rather 'what was so great about' Fabio Aru? Perhaps he didn't achieve everything fans (and even he himself) may have wanted, but that's a long accolade list. Equally perhaps we should acknowledge his decision to retire as a sensible one - sure his career wasn't as long as others, but competitive sport (combined with injuries) can be demanding on mind and body so stepping out early is no disgrace.
he showed to be a great rider, actually. Not many in the peloton can aspire to wear all GT shirts in their career (apart from the stage/overall success)
My memories of Fabio Aru mainly are from the 2017 Tour de France with his stage win on La Planche de belle Filles and when him and Chris Froome nearly crashed into some parked camper vans and spectators.
I am so disappointed in reading so many comments full of hatred and stupidity. Clearly, those who write have no clue at all about what being a professional rider means. Consider only what nausea means in a rider's life... it is a most underrated aspect in a pro's life. And it can turn out to be unbearable. Add it to health issues or no good results or pressure coming from media... and you'll get your aru.
That, "Oh, good!" comment from Valgren seems particularly harsh now. Also, that downhill crash after which he blamed the bike, really was the result of a mechanical. Also, his early career disappointments probably were a function of the developing arterial circulatory problem in his legs. He really did have some shitty luck and has proven quite resilient as a person. Wonder what was behind that Valgren reaction?
Its the same reason why Roglic doesnt care for maillot jaune. There is a lot of journalism if you have to wear it, so it is better to be 2nd and have more rest time. This is exclusivley a problem of TdF
I really like the premise of these videos, and maybe it's too much to ask, but more insight from those close to these riders would make the channel better. My favourite Aru memory was when he went solo from pretty far out on a stage of the Dauphine.
I would love a look back at damiano cunego. Was he a world level great rider with his 3 Lombardia wins or was there missed potential with only one gc win very early in his career.
Great review of one of my favorite riders 👍 I always thought he was a little like Josebo Beloki. After that broken pelvis on the way into Gap, Beloki was never the same. Aru had his medical troubles all of his career, but that downhill fall, was the point when he started the real decline. I have only just found your channel so if this has already been done sorry, but I think a look at Beloki's career would be a great video as well.
His career was short but for a few elusive moments he really was the best in the world when it comes to going uphill. And not many guys of the Froome era can say that. Moment that stuck in my mind was the "recovery" in the 2018 Giro. Seemingly gone, pulling himself up by the shoe covers to ride a upstanding time trial. Even tho he didnt do nothing else in that Giro. That one moment showed the mindset of the champion.
He was an exciting cyclist. The profession is very tough on these guys. To finish on the podium and within the top 20 for much of his career I’ll say he was very successful.
Very well done Ewan, your tone and cadence 👍spot on. Great in depth look at the WTF man, only thing I might have added was a little more context on his iliac artery surgery as that's something that has kind of gone through the peloton in the last four or five years with a number of high-end riders having to have this surgery. Kickazz presentation Chapeau 🎩. Perhaps you could do some more during the cyclocross season since you don't seem as into playing in the mud.🤷♂️
I remember seeing Aru go past me on the Pico villuercas climb in la vuelta last year, he was giving it all, right up to the end of his career. The guy always gave his best
For me, Aru has always been very selfish, and that's likely why he faded so quickly. I remember watching Jakob Fuglsang - Aru's teammate and joint leader - on his way to glory in the Tour de France, when Aru suddenly attacked and pulled all the favorites with him. That ended up costing both Jakob and Aru the victory that year.
My memory of Aru will be the strange way he threw the bike left and right as he stood on the pedals during a climb. Staccato. Violent. Instantly recognizable.
This is a seriously flawed way of looking at some great athletes career ! He should be congratulated on his wonderful achievements and a gracious and respectful regret could be expressed that he did not go on to achieve even further honours. The emphasis should however be gracious and dwell on his achievements!
On a very short and honoured list of men who have worn three GT jerseys, and won one, won stages in all three GTs, I'd say this was a roaring success, especially when you look at the opposition. But there was a fall and he clearly had personality problems I think Ewan fairly highlighted how these probably compounded by medical issues blighted what could have been an even greater career. But point taken, a great athlete, though given his record that goes without saying.
This video is about the rise and fall of Aru, not about how good he was. Half of the video is about his rise and the other half about his fall and also very impartial as it should be.
Aru career stopped at Planche de Belle Filles, and this is his last victory almost 5 years ago (!!). Mental and physical problems. But I still believe that in 1-2 years can comeback, he's only 31...
It's not that deep. The lad had external iliac endofibrosis which surgery didn't remedy. Aint gonna win bike races if there's not enough blood getting to your legs.
A mistery indeed, but not an unusual mistery. Many athletes, including thousands of elite cyclists peak at a young age and then go down from there. Talent does not necessarily come with longetivity.
Great recap on a very VERY good career just because he didn’t win Giro or The Tour he was a lesser rider in some peoples eyes is Bolix !! At least he rode clean unlike his Astana teammates 🤔😒
Sadly, this happens to MANY riders... hot for 6-7 years and then no where to be seen... pro racing is HARD and for most, top level is hard to maintain for 12-15 years...
So tell me.... Was Josh Revell an inspiration for you and this video? :D Just curoius. Very well done video! How about Videos like this with riders like: Alberto Contador (2015 winner of giro, 2017 not in competition), Bryan Coquard (2017 nearly stage winner, and now... Not so much. including the trouble with team europcar), Chris Froome (Of cause with his crash).. Meintjes maybe? The list is long :) Good video! Liked it.
@@thecyclingdane hahaha funny :D the Thumbnail instantly Made me think about josh Videos. Nice :D Cool! Im looking Forward for new Videos of this series :)
Contador is totally different, he went out at the top winning two stages at the Vuelta in 2017 and 5th GC. He is the total winner, second places means nothing. He was still a great, but not at the level he wanted to be and got out of the sport when he was slightly on the wane.
There seems to be a cut off from that generation Aru Froome etc vs today are being blown away.... Is it the passpprts do these young riders claim they have natural haematocrit of 70 and vo2max of 99 there is a vast difference....
Simple. He was on the Astana Super juice along with Nibali, Landa, Kangert, Fuglsang, Boom, Westra and the others. In the 2015 Giro Landa appeared as the greatest climber in the world after having shown absolutely nothing even close to that before hand and Aru had those odd up and down days where on stage 15 he was flying and he won stages 19 and 20 but on stage 12 he looked like a shot donkey trying to crawl up the uphill finish where Gilbert won and he got completely dropped on stage 16 and lost 2 minutes to Alberto. Aru had appeared out of the blue the season before in the Giro and was now a Yoyo that was a world beater one day and then looked like he didn't know how to ride a bike the next. The exact pattern you see in riders that are using blood transfusions. Vinos boys were filled to the brim with the Kazakh super-juice and it was clear as day. Just like Alpecin, Ineos and Jumbo Visma today you can see it from thousands of miles away.
Stupid POS title. What happened was, he got a condition called external iliac artery endofibrosis. With that not enough blood goes down a leg due to artery damage, the muscle tries to push the power but eventually gets numb and suffer severe power loss. You cannot train to max capacity and you can certainly not race to capacity. His surgery was probably not 100% successful, so with one leg at 80%, or whatever, you are done as a pro.
Mi dispiace ma ha tradito troppe persone che fanno il loro lavoro con amore, pensavo che era un serio professionista, non aveva voglia di fare la sua professione allora ritirati
CORRECTION! Sardinia not Sicily
I liked aru for his facial expressions alone. Looked real. Unlike robots in the peleton.
as someone who knows personally Fabio, he just lost it after the operation. I've also rode with him quite a lot, and i can say that in the last years he wasnt a perfect professional. He would find excuses many times to not try and stay at home(he has a lovely wife and a beautiful girl). When we were out and stopped, he wouldnt care about what to drink or eat, very often taking beers and sweets. Before the operation he was such a fucking beast, despite huge back problems. He trained like a maniac and was slim as fuck, while this past few years he was quite "fat". So sad to see him retire, but he made the right choice, being a professional cyclist requires shit ton of time, and he preferes to spend it on his family. In his situation i would have done the same
Very interesting comment. It's only fair to be human and have some weak times and not fully committing. It's still quite nice to read about some honest inside view and understand more about the reasons for his latter career. Better than those excuses or denial which mostly feature the official statements by team or rider.
@@1dree1 fabio won in life. Made milions and most importantly built a beautiful family. I havents seen him in a while now but i can tell he's way happier
@@blackpaint9093 Fair enough. :-) Doesn't have to be all about cycling. More over we're all just human and can't be full on all the time I suppose.
Didn't mean my comment in a disrespectful way. More like a cycling fan who watches and wonders.
Thanks for your inside view.
@@1dree1 yeah ofc, sorry im not really proficient in english and cant express myself very well. I agreed with you and just it ;)
cool story and nice to hear... good luck for him in life. He did great in pro-cycling
Maybe the question shouldn't be 'what happened' but rather 'what was so great about' Fabio Aru? Perhaps he didn't achieve everything fans (and even he himself) may have wanted, but that's a long accolade list. Equally perhaps we should acknowledge his decision to retire as a sensible one - sure his career wasn't as long as others, but competitive sport (combined with injuries) can be demanding on mind and body so stepping out early is no disgrace.
he showed to be a great rider, actually. Not many in the peloton can aspire to wear all GT shirts in their career (apart from the stage/overall success)
One of the most stylish climbers ever imo
That type of content is 🔥. Thank you for creating and sharing!
Glad you enjoy it!
The skill in attending a party is knowing when to leave. I think Fabio sums that up quite nicely.
sad to see him retire, he made some thrilling racing for the viewers
That Valgren interview...wow. Great video, thanks.
Vintage Ewan
great video and entire series
My memories of Fabio Aru mainly are from the 2017 Tour de France with his stage win on La Planche de belle Filles and when him and Chris Froome nearly crashed into some parked camper vans and spectators.
This, that day his career stopped.
He’ll be missed, such great talent and aggressive rider 💪💪❤️👍chapeau Aru ✊😄
I am so disappointed in reading so many comments full of hatred and stupidity. Clearly, those who write have no clue at all about what being a professional rider means. Consider only what nausea means in a rider's life... it is a most underrated aspect in a pro's life. And it can turn out to be unbearable. Add it to health issues or no good results or pressure coming from media... and you'll get your aru.
Really enjoyed the video well done Ewan!
More to come :D
That, "Oh, good!" comment from Valgren seems particularly harsh now. Also, that downhill crash after which he blamed the bike, really was the result of a mechanical. Also, his early career disappointments probably were a function of the developing arterial circulatory problem in his legs. He really did have some shitty luck and has proven quite resilient as a person. Wonder what was behind that Valgren reaction?
Its the same reason why Roglic doesnt care for maillot jaune. There is a lot of journalism if you have to wear it, so it is better to be 2nd and have more rest time. This is exclusivley a problem of TdF
The same Valgren who is shit since few years
Great insert - thank you
Hope he enjoys retirement more then the last couple of year riding. Aru will always remain one of my favorite riders. Thanks for this video.
Well made video man, enjoyed it!!
I really like the premise of these videos, and maybe it's too much to ask, but more insight from those close to these riders would make the channel better. My favourite Aru memory was when he went solo from pretty far out on a stage of the Dauphine.
Just found you today with your call on Milan San rimo, keep up the great work. This was really really good 👍🏽
I would love a look back at damiano cunego. Was he a world level great rider with his 3 Lombardia wins or was there missed potential with only one gc win very early in his career.
Brilliant rider loved watching him gutsy as hell!!!.
Great review of one of my favorite riders 👍 I always thought he was a little like Josebo Beloki. After that broken pelvis on the way into Gap, Beloki was never the same. Aru had his medical troubles all of his career, but that downhill fall, was the point when he started the real decline. I have only just found your channel so if this has already been done sorry, but I think a look at Beloki's career would be a great video as well.
His career was short but for a few elusive moments he really was the best in the world when it comes to going uphill. And not many guys of the Froome era can say that.
Moment that stuck in my mind was the "recovery" in the 2018 Giro. Seemingly gone, pulling himself up by the shoe covers to ride a upstanding time trial. Even tho he didnt do nothing else in that Giro. That one moment showed the mindset of the champion.
He was an exciting cyclist. The profession is very tough on these guys. To finish on the podium and within the top 20 for much of his career I’ll say he was very successful.
Hard to say what happened. But riders seem to improve for the application of an Astana kit & then regress when they ride for other teams.
Very well done Ewan, your tone and cadence 👍spot on. Great in depth look at the WTF man, only thing I might have added was a little more context on his iliac artery surgery as that's something that has kind of gone through the peloton in the last four or five years with a number of high-end riders having to have this surgery.
Kickazz presentation Chapeau 🎩. Perhaps you could do some more during the cyclocross season since you don't seem as into playing in the mud.🤷♂️
i second this. Ewan, as always, is spectacular and getting better all the time.
Old school bump
I remember seeing Aru go past me on the Pico villuercas climb in la vuelta last year, he was giving it all, right up to the end of his career. The guy always gave his best
You are great story tellers
Exciting rider to watch during the Sky's domination.
Im still a fan of Fabio Aru regardless.
👌
Sorry, i have to correct you cause is really important the difference, he came from Sardegna, not Sicily, he is from San Gavino Monreale, Sardinia!
Yeah you are write Ewan made a mistake :(
For me, Aru has always been very selfish, and that's likely why he faded so quickly. I remember watching Jakob Fuglsang - Aru's teammate and joint leader - on his way to glory in the Tour de France, when Aru suddenly attacked and pulled all the favorites with him. That ended up costing both Jakob and Aru the victory that year.
He was born in San Gavino Monreale SARDINIA, not in Sicily like you said in the video, just sayng. Nice video. 👍
That was a Freudian slip there! I at least referred to him as Sardinian for the rest of the video!
My memory of Aru will be the strange way he threw the bike left and right as he stood on the pedals during a climb. Staccato. Violent. Instantly recognizable.
Nice job mate 😎
You should make a video about Mikel Landa
This is a seriously flawed way of looking at some great athletes career !
He should be congratulated on his wonderful achievements and a gracious and respectful regret could be expressed that he did not go on to achieve even further honours.
The emphasis should however be gracious and dwell on his achievements!
On a very short and honoured list of men who have worn three GT jerseys, and won one, won stages in all three GTs, I'd say this was a roaring success, especially when you look at the opposition. But there was a fall and he clearly had personality problems I think Ewan fairly highlighted how these probably compounded by medical issues blighted what could have been an even greater career. But point taken, a great athlete, though given his record that goes without saying.
Agree very disrespectfull
I hate it when I'm forced to watch RUclips content.
This video is about the rise and fall of Aru, not about how good he was. Half of the video is about his rise and the other half about his fall and also very impartial as it should be.
I think Pogi really broke him mentally, and that speed it all up
Thanks for this%
What happened to Tejay van garderen would also be an interesting video
Good shout actually on the list hahaha
Aru career stopped at Planche de Belle Filles, and this is his last victory almost 5 years ago (!!). Mental and physical problems.
But I still believe that in 1-2 years can comeback, he's only 31...
I enjoyed that... Just gave you a sub. Hope to hear more. 😀👍
It's not that deep. The lad had external iliac endofibrosis which surgery didn't remedy. Aint gonna win bike races if there's not enough blood getting to your legs.
A mistery indeed, but not an unusual mistery. Many athletes, including thousands of elite cyclists peak at a young age and then go down from there. Talent does not necessarily come with longetivity.
I'm just sad that the IG page, 'Faces of Aru' will be no more.
Great recap on a very VERY good career just because he didn’t win Giro or The Tour he was a lesser rider in some peoples eyes is Bolix !! At least he rode clean unlike his Astana teammates 🤔😒
He had a good career 👏
We used to affectionately call him Kermie when he got out of the saddle and attacked 😀
Maybe he just spend to much time in the shitty team Astana
Some riders are really good. Some are greats. Not everyone can be one of the “Greats”
Sadly, this happens to MANY riders... hot for 6-7 years and then no where to be seen... pro racing is HARD and for most, top level is hard to maintain for 12-15 years...
Can you do a WTF Happened to Chris Froome?
Next pls Tom Dumoulin
His face...yeah his face and the pendulum style when he climbed hard!
So tell me.... Was Josh Revell an inspiration for you and this video? :D Just curoius. Very well done video!
How about Videos like this with riders like: Alberto Contador (2015 winner of giro, 2017 not in competition), Bryan Coquard (2017 nearly stage winner, and now... Not so much. including the trouble with team europcar), Chris Froome (Of cause with his crash).. Meintjes maybe? The list is long :)
Good video! Liked it.
Thank you and Yeah of course hahaha I am a huge Josh Revell fan he is an amazing youtuber. That is a good list will put it in the works
@@thecyclingdane hahaha funny :D the Thumbnail instantly Made me think about josh Videos. Nice :D
Cool! Im looking Forward for new Videos of this series :)
@@thecyclingdane uuuh i got another one that come to mind: Iban Mayo my favorite rider when i was a child
Contador is totally different, he went out at the top winning two stages at the Vuelta in 2017 and 5th GC. He is the total winner, second places means nothing. He was still a great, but not at the level he wanted to be and got out of the sport when he was slightly on the wane.
Its obvious...he's not juicing, so he can't compete with the others that are. Yes I mean Pogacar.
He kinda looks like Borat.
he was good.. it doesn't always work out though.
Nua a kloas Lichterl am ach so GROßEN Radspurthimmel....😉
A story you can almost put on every famous dutch cyclist today and in history. They are never able to make it al the way.
Why dont you do WTF HAPPENED INTERVIEWS with the riders themselves.Only they really know.
Thumbnail looks like Josh Revell's video
I am a huge fan of his hahaha
@@thecyclingdane 🤣
There seems to be a cut off from that generation Aru Froome etc vs today are being blown away.... Is it the passpprts do these young riders claim they have natural haematocrit of 70 and vo2max of 99 there is a vast difference....
Simple. He was on the Astana Super juice along with Nibali, Landa, Kangert, Fuglsang, Boom, Westra and the others. In the 2015 Giro Landa appeared as the greatest climber in the world after having shown absolutely nothing even close to that before hand and Aru had those odd up and down days where on stage 15 he was flying and he won stages 19 and 20 but on stage 12 he looked like a shot donkey trying to crawl up the uphill finish where Gilbert won and he got completely dropped on stage 16 and lost 2 minutes to Alberto. Aru had appeared out of the blue the season before in the Giro and was now a Yoyo that was a world beater one day and then looked like he didn't know how to ride a bike the next. The exact pattern you see in riders that are using blood transfusions. Vinos boys were filled to the brim with the Kazakh super-juice and it was clear as day. Just like Alpecin, Ineos and Jumbo Visma today you can see it from thousands of miles away.
❤
Stupid POS title. What happened was, he got a condition called external iliac artery endofibrosis. With that not enough blood goes down a leg due to artery damage, the muscle tries to push the power but eventually gets numb and suffer severe power loss. You cannot train to max capacity and you can certainly not race to capacity. His surgery was probably not 100% successful, so with one leg at 80%, or whatever, you are done as a pro.
Pogačar destroyed him, and he is the type of person that can't handle such pressure well.
pogacar never faced and beated contador and froome, aru did. Aru had serious health issues, pogacar not.
He Is from Sardinia not sicily
I know what happen too him: he doped too much, fed up and decided to quit.
❤
I thought he was sacha baron cohen.
„Wonderkid“ in cycling. Right … full natty brah.
sardinia not sicily
Very true Ewan just mixed them up I guess
Ok its human to make mistakes🙃
Ja ja, so ist das wenn 50% Hämatokrit einfach nicht mehr ausreichen. Dann rollt das Rad auf der Straße wie durch den Kuchenteig.
Very insulting with the WTF
Mi dispiace ma ha tradito troppe persone che fanno il loro lavoro con amore, pensavo che era un serio professionista, non aveva voglia di fare la sua professione allora ritirati
He always came across like a jerk, IMO
He looks like he was the brother of Borat....Fabio Borat Aru....
One word: Drugs!
You serious?
Everyone juices at the top of pro sport bro.
@@durianriders and then immediately stops?
No bs , his connection with old doped cyclist was always disturbing....
Never liked him... he was a cheater, like Nibali.
What happened to him? A word that begins with the letter "D" and ends in "G"....
Fabio's attitude was super cocky, I'd rather watch Romain Bardet.