'Tour of Flanders is going to be hard if I race it' - Ayuso's rainbow dream fades on cobbled Mur de Kigali

Juan Ayuso (Spain) finished eighth in his Elite World Championships road race debut in Kigali, Rwanda, 6:47 behind Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) who soloed to victory with a commanding 66km attack to defend his rainbow jersey.

Ayuso initially found himself in an excellent position, showing great strength to be the only rider to follow the acceleration of Pogačar on the Mont Kigali climb with 104km remaining, before Isaac del Toro (Mexico) managed to bridge across. 

"Yeah, when the race opened up I was there, and I think as a team we raced really well," Ayuso told Eurosport after the race. "I was protected all day, thanks to Ivan Romeo, and Abel [Balderstone] especially. They protected me really well in the first four hours of the race before we went to the big climb."

However, Ayuso’s chances faded shortly after on the vicious ascent of the cobbled wall known as the Mur de Kigali, where he was left standing still when the Mexican rocketed ahead with Pogačar locked on the wheel.

"On the climb [Mont Kigali], I was feeling good. I think a more long and sustained effort is more my type of effort, and I managed to keep up with Tadej, feeling quite well," Ayuso explained. "But then we did the downhill and when we hit the small climb with the Pave [Mur de Kigali], I sat in the same place, I didn't move, and yeah that was quite hard."

Ayuso gave a humorous post-assessment of his chances of success in the future cobbled classics after his struggles on the pavé.

"The pavé didn't treat me really nice today, I suffered a lot both there and on the circuit. On the climb that was a more sustained effort and a longer one, I was feeling really well, but I think maybe the Tour of Flanders is going to be quite hard for me in the future if I ever race it."

Ayuso remained philosophical and had no regrets about his performance in his first Elite World Championships. "No, I mean, at the end, when I got dropped in this kicker, I think I made a smart decision to stop and wait for the group because in the middle I was going nowhere," he said. 

After being distanced by Pogačar and fellow UAE teammate Isaac del Toro on the cobbled sections, Ayuso later missed the key selection when a chase group formed behind the eventual winner. He ultimately finished in a group with Paul Seixas and Pavel Sivakov.

"It's bittersweet because when the medals were decided, I was caught up a bit too behind at the start of the Pave, and I passed the finish line like only 10 seconds behind the group of Remco, so yeah that sucks a bit because I think maybe I could have been in that group, a bit more in front, but it is what it is, and due to the circumstances, I gave it my all and I leave quite happy."