Aru hopes to become a complete rider in 2015

Italian sensation Fabio Aru is hoping to round off his raw talent in 2015 with the goal a first career Grand Tour victory at the Giro d'Italia.

Astana's Aru is targeting his home race, the Giro, in 2015, after pocketing a stage win and finishing third this year behind Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).

To do that the 24 year old has spent time fine-tuning his time trial position in anticipation of the Stage 14 59.2km ride against the clock in Trevesio.

"Improvement in the time trial is very important to me," Aru told Biciciclismo.com. "So I've been in the Specialized wind tunnel in California.

"The big goal next year is the Giro with the 60km (individual time trial) stage and I'm focused on working toward that challenge."

"Liege and Lombardy are classics that I like, also San Sebastian. I'm not saying those will be big goals this year, but I want to ride these races to gain experience for the future.

"It is important to be a complete rider, this is what I want and work for it. That's my philosophy, working to achieve my goals."

Aru broke through in 2014, exciting fans with his aggressive riding, often alongside the best general classification riders in the sport, like Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Chris Froome (Sky).

"It was very important for my growth to ride with champions like Froome, Contador, (Alejandro) Valverde and (Joaquim) Rodriguez, and observe how they perform in a race. It was a good sign," he said.

Two stage wins and a fifth at the Vuelta a Espana later in the season only confirmed how close he was to the best in the sport, with Contador his benchmark.

"(I like him) for his riding, and because he is a very charismatic leader," said Aru. "He is my idol since I started cycling. So when Contador congratulated me on my victory in the Tour I felt great satisfaction."