Juan Ayuso discussion thread

[KZD]

Amazing performance from Ayuso today, not just on the climb but also downhill.

He can still win the Tour of Switzerland if he does a great time trial and will be one of the biggest favourites for the Vuelta. He is on the path to become one of the best riders in the world.

 

[ZamlinusYoutubeious]

I was kinda happy to be proven wrong today. I don't have much hope for the new spanish gc hopeful. I don't know why he is touted as a gc a guy, i think he should leave the mindset he is so talented to be stuck as a gc guy.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I was kinda happy to be proven wrong today. I don't have much hope for the new spanish gc hopeful. I don't know why he is touted as a gc a guy, i think he should leave the mindset he is so talented to be stuck as a gc guy.

Maybe because he finished on the podium of the first GT he rode at the age of 19?

 

[DNP-Old]

Maybe because he finished on the podium of the first GT he rode at the age of 19?

In a race he wasn't supposed to participate in, I would like to add.

 

[Berniece]

I was kinda happy to be proven wrong today. I don't have much hope for the new spanish gc hopeful. I don't know why he is touted as a gc a guy, i think he should leave the mindset he is so talented to be stuck as a gc guy.

What's wrong with being a GC guy? You can be a GC guy and still go for wins in classics. Look at Pogacar and Evenepoel.

 

[SHAD0W93]

What's wrong with being a GC guy? You can be a GC guy and still go for wins in classics. Look at Pogacar and Evenepoel.

Or Vino, Roglic, Nibali, Valverde, Purito and Sanchez, Evans, Pinot, and Cunego to an extent that were recent.

 

[perico]

This guy… is a f’n beast.

 

[KZD]

Despite not winning the GC today, Ayuso shows once again that he is one of the biggest talents in the peloton, his ability in these hilly time trials reminds me of Contador.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

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

 

[Miha81]

Impressive TT no matter the circumstances.

 

[Valv.Piti]

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.

 

[perico]

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.

 

[DNP-Old]

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.

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.

 

[perico]

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.

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

 

[Bushman]

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.

No disrespect to Almeida who is a great rider but Ayuso is in another class, really. I dont think it will be long until Ayuso has overtaken the former in the UAE hierarchy. Potentially after this year’s Vuelta already.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

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.

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.

 

[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!