Ayuso concedes former teammate Del Toro was 'on another level' at Dauphiné

His former teammate Isaac del Toro once again took the spoils, while Ayuso had to settle for second on the stage, a minute behind the Mexican. Ayuso finishes the rebranded Dauphiné in third overall, 1:17 down on Del Toro.

Having been caught and passed by Del Toro on the upper reaches of the Grand Colombier, Ayuso bided his time here, maintaining a watching brief when the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider struck out with 9km to go. 

Ayuso launched his own acceleration with 6km remaining, but although he initially chipped a few seconds off his deficit, he was soundly beaten by the summit. The Lidl-Trek rider had no complaints beyond the finish line.

“When he went from so far away, I was hoping for what happened yesterday, just the other way around,” Ayuso told FloBikes of Del Toro’s effort. “He was on another level today and we have to just accept it. Skjelly [Mattias Skjelmose] rode an amazing pull for me, and I really tried to use all the force of the team to my advantage, and Skelly did a great job sacrificing himself for me again. 

“And then I went, but he was on another level. This is sport and it is how it is.”

Ayuso left UAE in fractious circumstances last year to join Lidl-Trek, where he was signed to lead the line at the Tour de France. The Spaniard began strongly with overall victory at the Volta ao Algarve and an assured start to Paris-Nice, but he crashed out of the Race to the Sun while wearing the yellow jersey.

A bout of illness later forced him to abandon Itzulia Basque Country and miss the Ardennes Classics, but he built towards the summer with a training camp at Sierra Nevada in May, and he was a consistent performer across the week at the Dauphiné.

“The road here was not super easy and preparation was a bit more difficult than what I would have hoped for, so I’m happy to finish on the podium after feeling like every day I improved and every day I was getting better,” Ayuso said. “I hope I can recover well from this and be ready for next month.”

Ayuso paid tribute to the efforts of his Lidl-Trek squad across the week, with they were prominent in setting the tempo in the yellow jersey group on the arduous final stage. 

“I think we were the strongest team. We controlled everything with no help from anybody,” Ayuso said. “I’m just really proud of the team, they deserved a win. But Quinn [Simmons] got a stage win and I finished on the podium here, so I think we could more or less be happy.”

A tumultuous final weekend of the Dauphiné saw Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) crash out of the race while Del Toro confirmed his status as a podium contender, even if he will have to work for Tadej Pogacar in July. Ayuso, however, was reluctant to parse too much meaning from the Dauphiné with the Tour in mind.

“To be honest, I don’t really care,” he said. “I just focus on myself, and I focus with my teammates to get the best preparation possible. The guys rode in an amazing way today, and I think it was a really good ride to prepare for the Tour. But again, I’m not focused on other riders. I’m focused on myself and trying to help my teammates also improve. And that’s what we’re going to do in these next three weeks before the Tour.”