Apologies, ambitions, new arrivals: Juan Ayuso's time at Lidl-Trek won’t be dull

It’s never boring with Juan Ayuso. Just look at how his vexed tenure at UAE Team Emirates-XRG ended in a heady mix of acrimony and glory at the Vuelta a España. His two sparkling stage wins at the race came either side of a dizzying spell where the team abruptly announced his departure and he promptly denounced the management as a “dictatorship.” 

Ayuso’s first public appearance as a Lidl-Trek rider was always going to draw a crowd to the team’s media day in Denia on Friday, and we duly shoehorned ourselves into a small conference room in the Marriott to document the moment for posterity.

Compared to Remco Evenepoel’s conscious uncoupling from Soudal-QuickStep, Ayuso’s split from UAE looked like a more fiercely contested divorce. It’s certainly hard to imagine UAE posting a fuzzy farewell video of the kind Evenepoel’s old team produced in his honour, though perhaps they’ll surprise us yet at their own media day in Benidorm on Saturday.

Before Ayuso’s press conference got under way here, there were murmurs that he would not field questions on the fall-out with UAE. There was talk of a statement being prepared to that effect, and the assumption was that the statement would be published online. Not for the first time, Ayuso surprised us. 

He walked in holding a printout, and he kicked off his press conference by reading his statement aloud. It wasn’t entirely clear if the statement was Ayuso’s own idea or an outside imposition. Either way, he raced through his reading of it in flat tones, as though rushing through the legally mandated disclaimer at the end of a commercial for 100% mortgages. 

“Good afternoon, everyone. Before we talk about the exciting future ahead of me together with Lidl-Trek, there is a prepared statement I need to read to you,” Ayuso began, eyes down.

“First of all, I wanted to take this opportunity at the press conference to start by thanking the entire team and structure of UAE. My time at UAE Team Emirates shaped me, and this will always remain a central part of my sporting career.

“During these formative years, I learned professionalism, discipline, and vision. The people in the team, particularly President Matar and Mauro Gianetti, contributed to my success and helped to develop me into the rider I am today. I also want to address and close, once and for all, what happened last September. In that moment I said something I genuinely did not believe, as I was under pressure and nervous. It does not reflect my true feelings, and I consider the matter fully closed.

“I want to end this chapter on good terms with UAE Team Emirates, thank everyone for their support during my time there, and I can only wish them the very best for the future.”

With that, Ayuso looked up and the floor was opened to questions. 

“What is life like at Lidl-Trek, then?” someone asked.

“Much better,” Ayuso smiled, and the room erupted. The boy sure has a sense of timing.

Much like Evenepoel, Ayuso has the habit of saying what he thinks, which is sadly rarer than it should be in cycling’s increasingly corporate public relations landscape. It would be a shame if Ayuso’s candid comments at the Vuelta were to make him a more guarded media performer in the future, but there was little sign of caginess in his first press conference as a Lidl-Trek rider.

Asked why he had resisted the overtures of Spain’s lone top-level squad, Movistar, in favour of Lidl-Trek, Ayuso pointed out that most of the WorldTour had made some sort of pitch for his services. “When there was the possibility of leaving, nearly every team called me,” he said, adding that Luca Guercilena’s offer quickly proved the most appealing. “I wouldn’t say it was clear since day one, but everything went super fast because we understand each other very well.”

Ayuso duly offered a rundown of his programme for his 2026 season, which will begin at the Volta ao Algarve and then take in Paris-Nice, Itzulia Basque Country, the Ardennes Classics and the rebranded Dauphiné ahead of the Tour de France. Taking aim at the Giro d’Italia instead of the Tour was something he never even considered. “No, it was the obvious choice,” he said.

While Ayuso had the humility to pay deference to Mads Pedersen’s hunt for the green jersey in July – “For me, Mads is the leader of the team” – he stressed his own ambitions at the Tour. “I won’t say that winning the Tour is not realistic, but we also have to know where we are,” he said. “We have to set goals that are high but realistic. I’ve never done the Tour de France for myself, and as a first step we should go for the podium.”

The presence of Tadej Pogačar means that a podium finish is the summit of just about everybody’s ambition at the Tour these days. Asked what he had learned from his old teammate, Ayuso brushed off a suggestion that the question was off limits due to his initial statement.

“I just don’t want to speak more and more about them [UAE], but I understand perfectly the question, so no problem,” he said. “Of course, he’s the best rider in the world. I think he has even outgrown cycling a bit and become an even bigger star, and I think it’s good for the sport.”

Yet despite Pogačar’s current superiority, hammered home so emphatically at the World Championships in Kigali, Ayuso keeps a tight hold on his dream of one day winning the Tour. And with good reason. He finished on the podium of the Vuelta when he was just a teenager, and he’s still only 23 now, after all. Lidl-Trek’s wager is that there is still margin for improvement.

“Speaking about dreams is always hard because when you speak about dreams, you normally get criticised because a dream is something really big,” Ayuso said. “When you say you want to achieve your dream, sometimes people even can laugh at you. But I think that’s normal in all parts of life, where people are going to criticise if you have big hopes.

“I mean, I know I’m a very ambitious person and sometimes optimistic, but I’m also realistic at the same time. As I said, it’s not realistic for me this year to think yes, I’m definitely going to win the Tour. But, you know, that drive is there and that hope is there.”

Shortly afterwards, it was Mattias Skjelmose’s turn to meet the press. On occasions like this, the rider usually provides the journalists with details about his plans for the upcoming season. 

This time out, the transaction was partially reversed. Skjelmose was under the impression that he was Lidl-Trek’s lone leader for the Ardennes Classics until a reporter pointed out that Ayuso had confirmed his participation at both Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. “This is news to me. I was told I would be the sole leader in the Ardennes,” said Skjelmose.

It wasn’t the first time Skjelmose has appeared blindsided by Ayuso news. When the Spaniard’s arrival at Lidl-Trek was first announced, Skjelmose raised eyebrows by publicly admitting he hadn’t been told of the signing in advance. Three months on, Skjelmose opted to blame the press for the whole affair, though seemingly without rancour.

“The media blew up everything, like always,” he said, insisting that there were no tensions with his new teammate. “He’s a bit of a nerd, like myself, about equipment and optimisation. I think it’s going to be a good relationship.”

Lidl-Trek will give Ayuso and Skjelmose the chance to build their rapport by co-leading at Paris-Nice and Itzulia Basque Country, but the hierarchy for the Tour is already clear. After struggling in his previous two appearances, Skjelmose will ride in the service of Ayuso. 

“I would like to be the leader, but I also understand the team’s decision,” Skjelmose said. “I mean, that’s how it is, and I’m not going to challenge that decision.”

Skjelmose’s precise place in the firmament at Lidl-Trek might be even more muddled by the time the season starts. The decision to deploy him as a domestique at the Tour rather than a leader at the Giro d’Italia seemed curious at first, but it made more sense by Friday evening, when Daniel Benson reported that Derek Gee is set to join Lidl-Trek if and when he extricates himself from his contract with Israel-Premier Tech (now NSN Cycling Team). Who knows where Skjelmose will hear it first.

It’s far too soon to say if the coexistence of Lidl-Trek’s various stage racing leaders will be harmonious or not in 2026, but one thing is already certain: it’s not going to be boring. With Ayuso, it never is.