Genuine smile, thumbs up, Fabio Aru enjoyed the free flavor of each ride, right up to the last of a beautiful journey, which took him far away, with immense joys and difficult moments. It matters little that he finished forty-ninth at 4 minutes and 15 from Primoz Roglič ; the last time trial of the Vuelta 2021 , for the “ Knight of the Four Moors ”, had a very different objective. Or maybe not, it was the 33.8km a 31-year-old boy rode free, simply for the fun of it. Just as he did as a boy, in Sardinia , the land that, as Pietro Picciau (historical reporter for the Unione Sarda ) told BiciSport , catapulted into a stage of absolute caliber, where no one had ever arrived. His is the story of a boy capable of overcoming geographical limits and difficulties, leading an entire island to success. It deserves a long round of applause and thanks ».

Alessandra Giardini in the Gazzetta dello sport tells the moment of her last foot placed on the ground, "at 19.26, in front of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela , where every year more than three hundred thousand pilgrims from all over the world conclude their journey". Right, if we want, that Fabio Aru finished like this, precisely in the race that gave him, perhaps, the greatest joy in 2015. We remember that Vuelta well, excited to watch his dry shots on the steep Spanish climbs. In addition to that race, in total there were nine career victories for Aru: one stage in the Tour de France , three in the Giro d'Italia , two in the Vuelta. He wore the leader's jersey in all three races, plus the tricolor one. Fascinating and complicated shirts, not only because the sweat it takes to reach them weighs more than that of us mere mortals. That's okay Fabio, with the hope that from today, every pedal stroke of your new life, will always have that free and carefree flavor.

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