'Too soon to talk about next races' - Ayuso's plans unclear after Paris-Nice crash

Although Juan Ayuso did not sustain any fractures in the crash that forced him out of Paris-Nice on stage 4 to Uchon, his Lidl-Trek team have stated that it is too soon to say when he will return to competitive action.

“We’re going to do medical exams and then have an update. It’s too soon to talk about next races,” Lidl-Trek directeur sportif Steven de Jongh told Daniel Benson on Thursday.

Itzulia Basque Country was the next race on Ayuso’s provisional schedule, but it is not yet clear if he will be fit to line out there or at the Ardennes Classics that follow. 

The programme outlined for the Spaniard at the start of the season also included the Critérium du Dauphiné ahead of the Tour de France, where he is slated to lead Lidl-Trek alongside a green jersey-chasing Mads Pedersen. The Dane’s Classics campaign is still in doubt after he suffered a broken collarbone and wrist on his first day of racing at the Tour de Provence last month.

Ayuso was in the yellow jersey at Paris-Nice after leading Lidl-Trek to second place in the stage 3 team time trial, and he was in the front group when the race splintered into echelons on Wednesday’s windswept stage.

47km from the finish, however, Ayuso came down in a crash that also saw Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) abandon Paris-Nice. Although the Spaniard remounted and attempted to continue, it was quickly apparent that he was in no state to do so.

“It was really bad and if a rider jumps on the bike within 10 seconds, tries and has to go off again, then you know it’s not good,” De Jongh said. “When we were with him, he couldn’t stand up so we just hoped there were no fractures. 

“He was in a lot of pain, so I just asked him if he was able to stand up and he said, ‘No, not for the moment.’ I just called to the organisation to make sure that an ambulance was coming because that’s what you need in those circumstances. And they acted quickly. The ambulance arrived quickly and then you hope for the best.”

Ayuso underwent x-rays at a nearby hospital, and he spent Wednesday evening at the Lidl-Trek team hotel before travelling home to Andorra for further assessment.

“We had a lot of conversations,” De Jongh said. “I would say it’s really devastating, no? You’re in the yellow jersey, you have good feelings… He was really feeling good during the day as well. He was a bit afraid for the cold weather, but he really managed it well. He said he actually felt really good and that was really devastating for him, that he had to leave the team after all the hard work the boys did for him. He was really devastated.”

De Jongh stressed that the team must await the outcome of Ayuso’s exams in Andorra before updating his race programme. The 23-year-old arrived at the team after a fractious departure from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and he stated that he was targeting a podium finish at the Tour de France in July.

Ayuso made a fast start to his time at Lidl-Trek, winning a stage and the overall at the Volta ao Algarve, where he also delivered a striking performance in the individual time trial behind Filippo Ganna.

“The positive is that Juan came to this team and we were really looking forward to working with him,” De Jongh said. “He said he would be there in Algarve and he was there. His next goal was Paris-Nice, and he was there again because he showed he was riding well. I think that’s the positive we can get from this.”