In order to live up to his status as a potential maglia rosa in the 2015 Giro d’Italia, Fabio Aru has undertaken some testing at Specialized’s wind tunnel at Morgan Hill in California, with a view to losing less, or even taking some time in the races long 60km time trial.

"I've never been to one before, this was my first time," Aru told Cyclingnews in an exclusive interview conducted during his visit. "We tested all the bikes, the Shiv TT, the Tarmac, and the Venge. I'll probably be using the Venge in the flatter stages and the Tarmac in the mountains where I'm sure I'll be able to save energy throughout a tour."

"I will try to use the time trial bike more and more during training to get used to the position," he said. "Specialized helps me a lot because the guys are always mapping the parcours and are able to suggest the right setup and materials based on the course characteristics. They're always very attentive to the details.”

"I wanted to improve aerodynamics and efficiency with the different bikes, TT and road, and I wanted to have a comparison with the tests done in the velodrome last year before testing again this year," he said.

Specialized’s technical specialist, Scott Jackson, worked with Aru and has recently worked with some of cycling’s other greats, like Tony Martin, Alberto Contador and Mark Cavendish.

“Working with an athlete like Fabio is always a treat. We had the opportunity to speak to him about his 2015 season goals and bring him to our wind tunnel to begin working on them. In particular we have really been looking at improving Fabio’s TT position, although we had already started to work on it during the 2014 season with testing on the velodrome. Coming to the wind tunnel was really our chance to refine the work done last season and set Fabio up for a stellar 2015,” Jackson told Cyclingnews.

"Fabio was super excited to test many different race setups and at the end of the day he pedaled nearly 150km in the wind tunnel! We're very excited about the data that was collected which will allow Fabio and S-Racing to choose the optimal setup for every race next season."

Aru had an exceptional Giro-Vuelta double in 2014 but in the Vuelta, he couldn’t quite match the likes of Froome and Contador, but with both men looking like they will be on the start line of the Giro, Aru knows he needs to up his game if he wants to win his home Grand Tour.

“I do have to improve a lot, but I did it step by step this year and I think that I’ll be able to do more with little adjustments,” he said.

“For next year’s Giro time trial the first 30km are flat but then it’s an up and down. It’s not just for specialists. Nonetheless I'll certainly need to work hard to improve and close the gap.”

Astana have yet to announce who will lead the team in the Grand Tours as Vincenzo Nibali is toying with the idea of a Giro-Tour double, but with the defence of his Tour de France title slightly more important at the moment, it looks like he may support Aru in the Giro before they switch jobs in the Tour de France. Aru for one, has never shied away from leadership of the team despite his young age.

“I’ve always loved responsibility, I am here for that. All riders ride to win and if you do you’re asked to have responsibilities. I am ready. Everyone starts to win.”

Aru was supportive of Nibali and his objectives, even if for the moment it may prevent him from achieving his for another twelve months for now.

“He showed himself as one of the strongest riders in the peloton with three Grand Tour victories. I don’t know his plans for next season but I think he’ll want to confirm the Tour victory. He’s a true professional, though. I have no doubt he’ll do what the team will ask him to do.”