'If you have to be beaten by one rider, then you want it to be Filippo' - Ayuso takes positives from narrow loss to Ganna

Ganna claimed the stage by five seconds, yet Ayuso’s performance was strong enough to ensure he retained the overall lead heading into the decisive weekend. The Spaniard was quickest at the intermediate check and, despite a slight scare when he risked overshooting a corner in the finale, he limited his losses to the Italian specialist.

“I’m happy that in my first time trial with the team I was competitive,” Ayuso said afterwards. “But it’s the second day that I’m second, so it’s not really nice. Still, if you look at the overall picture for the GC, it’s a good day for us. We have to take it from there.”

Ayuso was philosophical about being beaten by Ganna, widely regarded as one of the finest time triallists of his generation.

“If you have to be beaten by one rider, then you want it to be Filippo,” he said. “He’s one of the best specialists in the world. If I have to lose to someone, I’m happy to lose to him.”

Ayuso was also well aware of his pacing strategy thanks to the use of his teammate Jakob Söderqvist's timing. The Swedish champion in the time trial discipline finished 3rd on the day, at 0:08 behind Ganna and just 0:02 behind his team's GC leader.

Ayuso was able to use the Swedish rider's time as a marker for where he was with his own effort.

“We had a good reference for my teammate Jakob. We knew he also had a really good time, so having that time reference for me was really important," explained Ayuso. 

"I knew throughout the course, nearly every kilometre, how I was doing compared to Jakob. So that really helped me to know that I was doing a very good time trial, and yeah, then I was five seconds off It always hurts to lose, but to lose against one of the best in the world is not so bad.”

The ride also marked Ayuso’s first race against the clock with his new set up, and he expressed satisfaction with how both equipment and sensations aligned under race pressure.

“You never really know how it’s going to feel in competition,” he said. “I wasn’t doubting, but it’s different when you pin a number on. All the equipment from the team was really good and I felt really well on the bike. I think it showed on the course.”

Behind him, Paul Seixas confirmed his credentials as Ayuso’s principal challenger. The Frenchman, who claimed his first professional victory on the Alto da Fóia on Thursday, placed fourth on the stage at 12 seconds, moving into second overall, seven seconds down. João Almeida, by contrast, endured a difficult afternoon, finishing tenth at 42 seconds and slipping to 44 seconds off Ayuso in the general classification.

Ayuso knows the race is far from decided. “Paul is only five or six seconds behind me, and seeing how strong he was yesterday, and with the hard stage on the last day, it’s going to be tight,” he said. “It will be a real fight.”

The Volta ao Algarve continues with a likely sprint opportunity in Lagos before concluding with the traditional double ascent of the Alto do Malhão, where the duel between Ayuso and Seixas now appears set to define the race.