Fabio Aru confirms Qhubeka Assos switch

Fabio Aru has signed with Qhubeka Assos for the 2021 season, joining a host of riders at the Swiss-sponsored team.

Aru joins Simon Clarke, Sean Bennett, Dimitri Claeys, Kilian Frankiny, Lukasz Wisniowski, Karel Vacek, Emil Vinjebo, Connor Brown and Harry Tanfield.

Fellow Italian Giacomo Nizzolo, Max Walscheid, Domenico Pozzovivo, Andreas Stokbro, Michael Gogl, Dylan Sunderland, and Victor Campenaerts have all been retained for another year.

"I am absolutely delighted to be joining Team Qhubeka Assos next season and very grateful to Douglas Ryder who welcomed me to his team," Aru said following the announcement of the news.

"When the possibility to sign first came about, and then after speaking with Douglas and other team members, I immediately felt that this was an environment that I wanted to be a part of.

"In the last few years I haven’t experienced all of the success that I’d hoped for and so I will use this new step to draw from some of the simple factors that saw me achieve those results, as I know that I’m capable again of similar success."

The move ends a three-year stay with UAE Team Emirates, during which he was unable to win a race, with his last action for the team coming during his abandoned participation in the Tour de France in September.

The 2015 Vuelta a Espana rider had to undergo surgery for a constricted iliac artery in his left leg after being diagnosed with the problem in 2018. He impressed in the 2019 Tour de France, where he won a stage in 2017, and achieved a top 15 finish, however he failed to find his best form on a consistent basis.

Aru is now the sole Grand Tour winner for the team, which was formerly sponsored by NTT until they withdrew their patronage.