Looking at his performance today he should be grateful that they cancelled the stage yesterday or he would have finished outside the podium.
- Feb 20, 2012
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- 44,402
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It makes no sense to project the Montjuic circuit to a big mountain stage.
Last year Pogacar struggled on this circuit even the day after killing everyone in the mountains.
- Feb 20, 2012
- 54,051
- 44,402
- 28,180
Let me tell you how and why I can easily make that assumption.
First of all Ayuso beat the 85 kg Ganna on a unipuerto stage 2 weeks ago and everyone lost their mind.
Second he did two uphill sprints against Rogla on two MTFs which were not decisive and with minimal gaps.
In the past he struggled on hard stages with multiple climbs and a lot of KJ's in the legs. That's why I was waiting for Saturday's stage to see if he actually fixed that issue.
Today he can't follow Mas and Landa on an explosive wall climb. I am convinced both of them would have smoked him yesterday.
- Apr 10, 2019
- 12,094
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Plz stop the Kj in the legs talk, just say fatigue like a normal person.
That said, he has won a 211km Tour de Suisse stage before, so I don't know if fatigue is the problem. Might also just be cold/rainy weather.
- Mar 20, 2022
- 13,342
- 18,093
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How many of us think he peaked too soon and will be a non factor in the Giro?
- Jul 8, 2017
- 2,438
- 3,124
- 17,180
I think Ayuso was simply hit by the rest day syndrome (yes, I consider yesterday as a rest day).
- Jul 16, 2015
- 5,384
- 13,968
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Okay, I'll throw my opinion into this topic: GC in pro cycling is like Dark Souls.
If in the end game run you can't beat the third from last boss (aka Rogla), then you can't beat the final two bosses either (Vinge and then Pog).
Taking the fight to Rog is one thing, beating him is something else.
If in the end game run you can't beat the third from last boss (aka Rogla), then you can't beat the final two bosses either (Vinge and then Pog).
Taking the fight to Rog is one thing, beating him is something else.
- Oct 30, 2023
- 5,336
- 8,253
- 16,180
- Mar 20, 2022
- 13,342
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So glad he lost. I hope he starts his downfall now.
Is Rogla still supposed to be the 'third GC demon*' in 2025?
What about Remco?
That said, there's some difference between GTs and one week tours.
Not that I think Ayuso would be ready to bring it against in shape Pog and Vingo, but I'm not so sure he cannot beat Roglic at the 2025 giro.
*
He's 23, lots of room for improvement. I expect him to have about 3 GTs under his belt by the time he's 30.
- Feb 20, 2012
- 54,051
- 44,402
- 28,180
He hasn't improved that much since last year. Which is to be expected, considering it's his 4th year at WT level and he hasn't changed teams.
- Oct 30, 2023
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- 8,253
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I look at this youtube preview and tell myself "don't click that link"
- Jul 16, 2015
- 5,384
- 13,968
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Hmm... yes? There would be a match between Rog and Evenepoel, at least as things stand. I mean obviously Rog is getting older but his form in the Vuelta 2024 and now here in Catalunya should at least say Evenepoel would have a real fight on his hands to beat him. Ergo for me, Rog is still "third GC demon" as you put it.
The other two are just ridiculous so I won't even go there. Watching the Plateau de Beille 2024 scarred my cycling fan brain forever.
So... back on topic, Ayuso has his work cut out. But he's got his chances, I won't pretend he doesn't. I mean the Giro can be notoriously cold and wet, for example, and Rog hates that. Almeida once dropped him in the Giro two years ago. It happens (although Rog was carrying an injury back then).
- Feb 20, 2012
- 54,051
- 44,402
- 28,180
Essentially the only thing in Evenepoels favor is that he was ahead of Roglic in the 2024 Tour when Roglic crashed out, and it was fairly clear that Roglic wasn't quite right in the first week.
Roglic has won 2 Grand Tours since Evenepoel won his Vuelta, and in that time he has also won 4 other WT stage races compared to Evenepoels UAE Tour win (bear in mind this is GC riders, not GT riders)
Finally - if you wanna cite the 2024 TdF level specifically, Evenepoel finished closer to Almeida than Pogacar on all of the big mountain stages, and apart from like one day when Vingegaard was clearly bad and really defensive, he couldn't hold on to Vingegaard either.
So I think results absolutely favor Roglic, and level could go either way. I think 2024 would have seen a good fight for the TdF podium if Rog hadn't crashed out.
His form is excellent, always improving. Some of his race tactics are flawed.
Roglic rode perfectly in every way, Ayuso and UAE didn't react correctly with neutrality of previous stage. Roglic deserves congratulations on bold win..style points for sure, Bora was superior to UAE for 4 days in team tactics.
Ayuso also rode a good races, good individual results and excellent GC place overall.. Really good indicators for the balance of the season.
- Mar 26, 2023
- 368
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Maybe if Ayuso has a really good 2025, he can ride the 2026 UAE Tour as leader!
Joking aside, glad to see him healthy and interested in what he can do in the Giro.
Joking aside, glad to see him healthy and interested in what he can do in the Giro.
Last edited:
- Aug 10, 2023
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When UAE didn't work for Ayuso at either the first or second sprint, I recalled his lack of team support in last year's TDF. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Giro.
ANALYSIS | Lingering tension? Did Adam Yates avoid working for Juan Ayuso at Tirreno-Adriatico and what does it mean for UAE at the Giro d'Italia?
Adam Yates was one of the most vocal critics of Juan Ayuso during the 2024 Tour de France. The British rider, rather than keeping his frustrations behind closed doors, aired them publicly, criticizing...cyclinguptodate.com
- Sep 12, 2022
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So for the Tour we can use an excuse that Roglic wasn't "right" the first week and crashed out, but we can say that Roglic won 2 GT's since Evenepoel's Vuelta even though one of them was because Evenepoel had to quit the Giro due to covid while he was leading?
At no time did Roglic show he would be able to beat Evenepoel uphill in the TDF 2024, while we did see it the other way around. Using any other metric like "closest to Almeida" doesn't really matter.
- Mar 20, 2022
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Bora wasn't superior. Bora had and has a better rider. They messed up the second intermediate sprint.
- Apr 30, 2011
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He did so the day before he crashed out, dropping Evenepoel twice.
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