Ayuso's ordeal resolves UAE Vuelta leadership debate
Juan Ayuso will not contend for the Vuelta a España after cracking on the final climb to Pal on stage 6. The Spaniard is now out of the GC picture, but it remains to be seen what role he will play in the service of João Almeida.
The leadership debate is already over, and the Vuelta a España has barely begun. João Almeida is now the lone leader of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad after Juan Ayuso lost almost twelve minutes on the final climb to Pal on stage 6.
The Spaniard had begun the day second overall, just eight seconds down on Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) after UAE’s victory in the team time trial on stage 5, but he began to struggle even before an attack had been launched from the GC group.
Ayuso was distanced with 6km of the climb to Pal remaining and he quickly understood that there was little point in resisting his fate. The red jersey group beat ahead without him and he thought simply about treading water until the finish.
He came home in 62nd place, 12:51 down on stage winner and teammate Jay Vine. In the overall standings, he drops to 43rd, 10:13 behind new leader Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious).
Ayuso was a relatively late addition to UAE’s Vuelta plans, inserted into the team after Tadej Pogacar opted against riding a second Grand Tour this year. On reaching the finish in Pal on Thursday, Ayuso suggested that his truncated build-up had played a part in his ordeal here.
“My feelings have been a bit like they have been throughout the Vuelta,” Ayuso told COPE radio. “I've been saying since day one, even before starting, that my approach was not to compete for the general classification. The team asked me to try, to see if I could improve, and out of respect I tried, but today, as I still wasn't feeling well, so I let it go.”
Since abandoning the Giro d’Italia in May, Ayuso’s only race days before the Vuelta came at the Clasica San Sebastian and the Circuit de Getxo. Amid speculation over his future at UAE – Lidl-Trek and Movistar are among his reported suitors – Ayuso looked set to compete at events like the Tour de Pologne as he built towards the Rwanda Worlds, but his schedule was altered once Pogacar made his intentions clear.
In Pal on Thursday afternoon, however, Ayuso suggested that his GC prospects had been over-egged by the Spanish press and public, noting that the Rwanda Worlds remained a target.
“The aim is to prepare for the World Championships and help my teammates in any way I can. I knew from day one what I had to do,” he said.
“I didn't have the weight of the general classification on my shoulders, you put it there. I knew how I was and what I was coming for. It’s normal to create excitement and people expected me to go for the general classification, but for me it’s not like the Giro, which was a hard blow. I sat up [on the climb] and looked ahead, and now I’m looking at how João is doing and going for a stage.”
Almeida briefly looked to be in difficulty in the finale, but the Portuguese rider ended the climb to Pal on a high note, stretching out the red jersey group with a stint of pace-making and coming home alongside Vingegaard. He now lies sixth overall, 2:41 behind Træen and eight seconds down on Vingegaard.
And while the leadership issue is resolved, there will now be much focus on how exactly Ayuso is deployed in the service of Almeida. The soap opera isn’t entirely over, in other words.
