From ‘enemies’ to training partners: Pogacar and Ayuso prepare for the Tour in Sierra Nevada

The pair were seen on the roads above Granada this week. For two riders who once shared team colours at UAE, it was a scene that did not go unnoticed. 

Their time together at UAE had also been marked by repeated rumours of tension, particularly around leadership roles and Ayuso’s place in a team built so clearly around Pogačar, although the team management always denied there were any problems.

The Slovenian remains the centre of UAE’s Tour project, while Ayuso is now building towards the race in Lidl-Trek colours after a turbulent departure from the team.

For Pogačar, the camp marks the formal switch from spring dominance to Tour preparation. After a Classics campaign in which he won Strade Bianche, Milan Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders and Liège Bastogne Liège, the Slovenian returned to stage racing at the Tour de Romandie, where he won four stages and the overall title.

“We made a programme tailored to Tadej,” UAE Team Emirates XRG sports manager Joxean Matxin Fernández told Domestique. “He focused on one day racing to begin with, and he ended that cycle with Romandie as an adaptation to the second cycle of his season, which is around the Tour de France.”

That second cycle is now underway. Pogačar is due to spend several weeks at Sierra Nevada before racing the Tour de Suisse from 17 to 21 June. A shorter altitude block at Isola 2000 will follow later in the month, as has been the case before his recent Tour victories.

“He’s going to do altitude training at Sierra Nevada to prepare for the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France,” Matxin said. “After Suisse, he’ll go to altitude again at Isola 2000.”

Ayuso’s presence in the same training area adds another layer to the story. The Spaniard left UAE after a difficult final season in 2025, and his departure, announced during the Vuelta a España, quickly became a public dispute.

“I don’t understand why UAE made the announcement without warning me,” Ayuso said at the time, according to Marca. “They want to damage my image. I’ve suffered one lack of respect after another from the team management. It’s been a dictatorship.”

Eight months later, the two Tour de France GC contenders are back on the same roads, both working towards peak form for July.

The Tour de France starts in Barcelona on 4 July. By then, Sierra Nevada will be behind them and the setting will be very different. 

Pogačar will arrive as the rider everyone has to beat. Ayuso will arrive with a new team, finally as an undisputed leader, and with something to prove.