Juan Ayuso discussion thread

[DNP-Old]

And isn’t Ayuso signed through like 2040 or something? In all seriousness, I remember that it was an outrageously obscene amount of years.

All of Pogacar, Ayuso (2028, even) and Christen are signed through 2027, three of the longest contracts in all of cycling. And all have the same goals in their careers. Although, at this point, it may be very wild to assume Christen is getting to that level, but given they've signed him for so long it is probably what they are expecting.

This is without even mentioning Almeida, who's there until 2026 too.

 

[Netserk]

Almeida is destined to get crowded out. Ayuso is likely going to win the Vuelta this year or next and will then be stuck in a very weird position where he will be capped at second in the team hierarchy unless he beats his own teammate mano a mano to win the Tour. I see a 1986 Tour and/or 1995 Giro reprisal on the horizon.

I think it's easier to manage two captains in the Tour if they are both beaten.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

They've got Christen under contract for the next gazillion years too, it doesn't make much sense. Just throwing long contracts around and seeing what sticks. INEOS are desperate for a leader. I reckon they'd throw the sink at Ayuso if given the chance. And they should.

It makes sense in the sense that they'd rather waste great riders in their own team rather than have to compete with them, and they have the money to do so anyway. It's not unlike how Bayern wins the Bundesliga every year.

 

[Red Rick]

Almeida is destined to get crowded out. Ayuso is likely going to win the Vuelta this year or next and will then be stuck in a very weird position where he will be capped at second in the team hierarchy unless he beats his own teammate mano a mano to win the Tour. I see a 1986 Tour and/or 1995 Giro reprisal on the horizon.

Why can't Ayuso/Pog co lead vs Vingegaard/Roglic if it comes to that?

 

[gunara]

Serious question. What the hell are UAE going to do if this kid is this good and keeps it up? Teddy is their leader for the next 5 or so years and I don’t think Almeida has reached his peak yet. I don’t see this kid on dom duties until Pogacar retires, nor do I see either of them satisfied winning the Vuelta or Giro every single year. If Ayuso wins La Vuelta this year, it’s going to be very crowded.

Sooner or later the balloon is going to burst, I think

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Why can't Ayuso/Pog co lead vs Vingegaard/Roglic if it comes to that?

I think it depends heavily on the riders themselves and the race situation whether co-leadership works out or not. I also think it's more likely that tensions will eventually rise when the contract situation forces said co-leadership to be repeated for possibly as many as 4 Tours.

 

[JosefK]

Ayuso no longer a teenager, but still might have a few good years left in him.

 

[jmdirt]

Congrats young man!

 

[balac]

Ayuso said in an interview last week that his numbers before his injury had improved a lot compared to last year. Hopefully he can prove it on La Vuelta. Nationals next for him!

 

[Gigs_98]

I'm really excited by what the future will hold for him. He is still really inconsistent but man, the peaks are so incredibly high. It's so hard to evaluate the performances of young gc riders nowadays with riders seemingly hitting their peak earlier every single year, but it's just hard to imagine a 20 y.o. who can have these kind of performances, not becoming extremely successful.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

I think it depends heavily on the riders themselves and the race situation whether co-leadership works out or not. I also think it's more likely that tensions will eventually rise when the contract situation forces said co-leadership to be repeated for possibly as many as 4 Tours.

If Ayuso wins the Vuelta this year, I'd imagine a Giro/Vuelta double next year would make more sense than the tour anyway. In 2025 I can easily see Pog wanting to try his hands on the giro so I don't think they'll have to race too many tours together even if they're on the same team for the foreseeable future.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

My Vuelta-favorite.

Remco is really having his work cut out. This is a very different Vuelta to last year, Ayuso is one year older (and obviously stronger), Roglic will come better prepared, so Remco has to bring his absolute A-game to win that race.

Also a significantly more mountainous route. Last year had a whopping one HC climb and nothing remotely resembling a queen stage. This year we have two proper mountain stages in a row with Tourmalet after Aubisque and Spandelles on one day and Hourcère and Larrau on the next, and the final week isn't easy either with Angliru and double Cruz de Linares. And it isn't compensated by more TT either. Last year, Evenepoel was dealt a favourable hand, this year the deck is stacked against him if anything. He will definitely be up there with last year's form but as good as he was then, I could see him needing to be a little bit better than that now. It's set up to be a great Vuelta, more hyped than I am for the Tour tbh.

 

[Andy schleck]

Serious question. What the hell are UAE going to do if this kid is this good and keeps it up? Teddy is their leader for the next 5 or so years and I don’t think Almeida has reached his peak yet. I don’t see this kid on dom duties until Pogacar retires, nor do I see either of them satisfied winning the Vuelta or Giro every single year. If Ayuso wins La Vuelta this year, it’s going to be very crowded.

It's very simple what UAE will do. The strongest will lead in the tour. If ayuso turns to be better GC rider than pogacar, he will be the main leader in the tour france.
Almeida is out of this conversation. He will never be better than pogacar and ayuso. He will be a backup for them. If he wants solo leadership, he will need to move to other team.

 

[Extinction]

Also a significantly more mountainous route. Last year had a whopping one HC climb and nothing remotely resembling a queen stage. This year we have two proper mountain stages in a row with Tourmalet after Aubisque and Spandelles on one day and Hourcère and Larrau on the next, and the final week isn't easy either with Angliru and double Cruz de Linares. And it isn't compensated by more TT either. Last year, Evenepoel was dealt a favourable hand, this year the deck is stacked against him if anything. He will definitely be up there with last year's form but as good as he was then, I could see him needing to be a little bit better than that now. It's set up to be a great Vuelta, more hyped than I am for the Tour tbh.

Remco will definitely need to be better this year if he goes. Ayuso may end up being better than Pogacar in GTs, but of course it's to soon to tell.

 

[Offline]

Probably the biggest talent in cycling.

 

[KZD]

If Ayuso wins the Vuelta this year, I'd imagine a Giro/Vuelta double next year would make more sense than the tour anyway. In 2025 I can easily see Pog wanting to try his hands on the giro so I don't think they'll have to race too many tours together even if they're on the same team for the foreseeable future.

I disagree here. Ayuso will be 21 years old next year so I can't see him doing two Grand Tours in the same season. If he wins the Vuelta this year, he will likely want to be the Tour leader or at least co-leader with Pogačar in 2024 and if the latter doesn't win the Tour this year, UAE could really send Ayuso to the Tour as their chances against Vingegård would increase even if Pogačar is still the strongest of the two. In this scenario, Almeida would be the one left out of the team, which would go against his wish of riding the Tour next year but given that he would be a leader in the Giro and in the Vuelta, I don't think he should be unhappy.

I am curious to see Ayuso in one day races as well, Pogačar is one of the best classics rider in the world right now, so Ayuso could remain more of a stage racer, but if there is a major classic where I think Ayuso could actually be better suited than Pogacar is Milan San Remo as he is a better descender than his Slovenian teammate, so I hope he rides that one next year.

 

[Lequack]

A couple more months of injury-free training and we might get ourselves a Spanish winner of the Vuelta

Yes Roglic might have a tough job on his hands with Ayuso riding this well.

My Vuelta-favorite.

Remco is really having his work cut out. This is a very different Vuelta to last year, Ayuso is one year older (and obviously stronger), Roglic will come better prepared, so Remco has to bring his absolute A-game to win that race.

Wait so Remco is going to the Vuelta confirmed?

 

[Miha81]

Yes Roglic might have a tough job on his hands with Ayuso riding this well.



Wait so Remco is going to the Vuelta confirmed?

Hopefully both Rogla and Remco will ride Vuelta. I can't se Remco skipping it as defending winner.

 

[Rob5091]

Is there room for Pogacar and Ayuso at UAE? I think next year we'll find out.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Is there room for Pogacar and Ayuso at UAE? I think next year we'll find out.

I think UAE can handle it. Jumbo has handled multiple leaders for quiet awhile and have done well, same with Ineos. Odd one out can be Almeida but they also don’t have as much of a classics focus as Jumbo.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So is Ayuso the next Pogacar? Maybe UAE's answer to the Fisherman?

 

[staubsauger]

Kid looks like the new Armstrong IMHO. The TT, the climbing. There's this determination in his eyes. Ambitious. Ayuso looked pissed he didn't take the jersey after the finish line in La Punt!

 

[Bolder]

Probably the biggest talent in cycling.

Pog.

That said, I agree that peak Ayuso has TdF winning potential. But he's also been inconsistent, as you'd expect from a 20 year old (!!). His Suisse performance was very, very good against a high-quality field. But Skejlmose, at 22, was just as impressive.

The amount of young talent right now is off the charts.

 

[Berniece]

Really looking forward to the Vuelta this year. Field is going to be pretty high if the top Giro contenders will join, and that will be a real test.

Based on last year, and his performance at Romandia and here, I think he can definitely win it.

 

[Red Rick]

Pog.

That said, I agree that peak Ayuso has TdF winning potential. But he's also been inconsistent, as you'd expect from a 20 year old (!!). His Suisse performance was very, very good against a high-quality field. But Skejlmose, at 22, was just as impressive.

The amount of young talent right now is off the charts.

High quality field? For GC?

This is probably the weakest of the WT big 1 week fields together with Romandie