Fabio Aru has become the new star of Italian cycling after sealing third place in the overall classification today on the feared Zoncolan. He has won a stage and taken the last step on the podium for Astana and become a national hero in the process, taking up many pages of sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. But he insists that his podium changes nothing.

"Today was a very hard stage and we went very hard on the Zoncolan. I was struggling a bit at the bottom but I managed to recover a bit and go up at my own pace," Aru said at the summit.

"I have to thank my whole team, they really put themselves through the wringer for me at this Giro," Aru said. "Jani [Brajkovic] had that fall and he broke his arm and Michele [Scarponi] unfortunately wasn’t able to recover from his injury in the crash, so I want to salute them and wish them all the best for their recovery. And I want to thank all of my teammates for everything they’ve done for me in the last few days."

Aru is without doubt a podium contender in Grand Tours for the next ten years if not more and he will be a favourte to win one too. Despite the Italian’s needing someone to help Vincenzo Nibali to bring joy to the nation, Aru is not letting his newfound fame get the better of him.

 "A good result the Giro is hugely satisfying and proves that all the hard work paid off," Aru said. "But for me, nothing will change because I'll go to races with the same determination as before. I've got a lot of years ahead of me in my career and I've still got to prove myself."