Fabio Aru quits Tour de France: 'I really don't know what is happening to me'

Fabio Aru surprised the Tour de France when he withdrew from the race after struggling on Stage 9 on Sunday.

The Italian abandoned the stage, and the race, on the second climb of the day when he reached Col de la Hourcere.

Speaking after the stage, he was unsure of the cause of his failure: "I really don't know what is happening to me. I have no answers, and this makes me suffer.

"I approached this Tour de France on my toes, and I had worked well. Not to go for GC, but to help Tadej [Pogacar] in the best possible way and maybe, who knows, get some chances of my own if the opportunity arose.

"I had put in a series of encouraging performances in the run-up to this Tour de France, except the bad day I had in Lombardy."

This is not Aru's first struggle with an undefined injury. His poor form in 2018 was ultimately explained in 2019 when a constricted iliac artery was discovered in his left leg, which required surgery.

He had appeared to have recovered for the rest of last year's campaign and had started well in 2020 after impressing at the Vuelta a Burgos, Tour de l'Ain and the Mont Ventoux Denivele event.

With that success, the 30-year-old Italian believed he was on course for a strong showing at this year's Tour.

"My training data also showed optimism in returning to a condition that allowed me to perform well, certainly the best numbers in the last three years," he explained.

"Yesterday, talking to the team doctor, I told him that I was feeling better, and that I was confident for the rest of the race. Now I am here, stuck in a hole, without really understanding why."

"I feel like I do not deserve this because I have always been an exemplary professional and given my maximum commitment.

"The team does not deserve this either and I suffer a lot in not being able to make my contribution as I would like to."

Yet to recover from the shock of his exit, Aru even refused to rule out retirement.

"My future? Well I'm not thinking about it right now. I'm still processing the disappointment of today."