Aru to change design of Italian champion's jersey before first races
The turn of the year saw the release of the first photographs of Fabio Aru in his new UAE-Team Emirates kit, and the Sardinian has pledged to unveil a refined version of his Italian champion’s jersey before he lines out for his first race of the season in February.
Aru pleased traditionalists by wearing a classic version of the Italian champion’s jersey after claiming the title in Ivrea in June, but the design has undergone a drastic change to reflect his off-season switch from Astana to UAE-Team Emirates.
Aru's jersey is almost indistinguishable from those of his new teammates, with the Italian tricolour reduced to a small band low down on the jersey. The 27-year-old insisted, however, that this is merely a placeholder, and that the Italian flag will feature more prominently on the jersey he wears in races.
"It's only a provisional version. The tifosi can calm down, the colours of the Italian flag will be clear," Aru told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "The 'true' jersey will be presented further ahead, at an official event. It's elegant and beautiful, I guarantee you that."
The first creative interpretation of the maglia tricolore came in 2009, when Filippo Pozzato wore a version that saw the Moscow skyline motif of his usual Katusha team jersey coloured in the green, white and red of the Italian flag. Following objections from the Italian cycling federation, Pozzato switched to a white jersey with a green, white and red band.
Giovanni Visconti (at Movistar in 2012) and Vincenzo Nibali (at Astana between 2014 and 2016) later wore Italian champion’s jerseys that saw the national flag incorporated into their regular team colours. Aru bucked the trend by wearing a traditional Italian champion’s jersey during his final six months at Astana, but the UAE-Team Emirates colours will feature on his 2018 version.
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