Juan Ayuso discussion thread

[HashRouge]

I still see Roglic as the favorite, although I don't think today's performance is as strategic as some people think. Roglic put his team to work to win and couldn't.
But Ayuso has always been very good in finishes like this; his doubts are in other mountains.
That doesn't clear up my doubts.

I could be wrong because Ayuso is progressing and Roglic has already passed his prime. But until I see confirmation, Roglic is more reliable for Finestre and other stages than Ayuso.

In fact, I don't rule out seeing Del Toro like Froome with Wiggins. I think Del Toro's progress this year is enormous.
Sunday could be the first day Del Toro has to be restrained by UAEs car, like Froome in that Tour and Vingegaard in the 2022 Dauphine. Del Toro is much better on gravel than Ayuso, who has already struggled on the gravel stage of the Tour. Del Toro has often been flying on that asphalt at Strade Bianche.

If Roglic can take anything positive from today, it's that many are already making Ayuso the favorite for a 4 seconds stage. He can put pressure on the UAE to work; they inexplicably did all the work for the UAE today.
Bahrain and Bernal were Ayuso's domestiques. The gap with Ciccone can't be closed by Bernal, but by the team that had two guys.

I also still see Roglic as the favourite. However, I would really like Ayuso to have a good Giro. I think a top level performance here might increase the chance of him leaving for another team before his contract is up. There are a couple of teams that could afford it, I think, and it would be great to spread the best GC contenders a little more widely. Almeida's contract is up at the end of next year though (I think), so maybe he is more likely to be the first to go?

From Ayuso's point of view, if he shows he can compete with Roglic here then I am certain he will want to go to the Tour next year. His contract runs until the end of 2028 - is he really going to wait until he's 26/27 for a shot at leading a team in the Tour? The problem he has on UAE is that he is unlikely to be the leader at the Tour with Pogacar there. And would UAE ever let Pogacar skip the Tour, even if he wanted to, while he is in this sort of shape?

 

[Peyroteo94]

I also still see Roglic as the favourite. However, I would really like Ayuso to have a good Giro. I think a top level performance here might increase the chance of him leaving for another team before his contract is up. There are a couple of teams that could afford it, I think, and it would be great to spread the best GC contenders a little more widely. Almeida's contract is up at the end of next year though (I think), so maybe he is more likely to be the first to go?

From Ayuso's point of view, if he shows he can compete with Roglic here then I am certain he will want to go to the Tour next year. His contract runs until the end of 2028 - is he really going to wait until he's 26/27 for a shot at leading a team in the Tour? The problem he has on UAE is that he is unlikely to be the leader at the Tour with Pogacar there. And would UAE ever let Pogacar skip the Tour, even if he wanted to, while he is in this sort of shape?

Ayuso will leave the team, there is no chance he will lead the team in the Tour.

 

[Cycling111]

Ayuso will leave the team, there is no chance he will lead the team in the Tour.

Yesterday on X, I read quite a few comments from Visma fans calling for Ayuso's signing.

It doesn't make sense to want him out of the UAE and still want him at Visma. Also, as a domestique for Vingegaard. He didn't want to be a domestique when he hadn't won anything, but he's going to be one now

I think UAE will release him from his contract, but not to go to Visma. In any case, it would be a mistake for him to leave one team because he can't lead the Tour and join another with the same problem.

I think he'll end up at Bora if Remco ends up at Ineos.
Roglic doesn't have many years left, and he has no room for improvement before the Tour.

In any case, to win the Tour, he not only has to beat Roglic, he also be far superior to him.
Remco was at a similar level to Roglic in the 2023 Volta and still has a large gap with Pogacar and Vingegaard in the Tour. Ayuso will have to be far superior to Roglic; if he's tied with him, he'll still be far behind the others.

But he can't wait much longer. Pogacar is still young, and when Pogacar begins to decline, perhaps Paul Seixas or someone else will be there to win the Tour.

Ayuso must change team in 2026.

 

[jmdirt]

The 2025 GdI is going on now, but the conversation is the 2026 TdF?! Forgive me for living in the here and now.

 

[Berniece]

He needs to leave UAE asap, but his contract is until the end of 2028... They clearly don't care about him, he isn't their leader, they just do whatever they want as long as it isn't Pogacar. Can'it imagine him wanting to ride there for another 3.5 years.

 

[Netserk]

Had he ridden a single GT in support of another rider, maybe he would receive greater support here.

 

[Gratemans]

Yesterday on X, I read quite a few comments from Visma fans calling for Ayuso's signing.

It doesn't make sense to want him out of the UAE and still want him at Visma. Also, as a domestique for Vingegaard. He didn't want to be a domestique when he hadn't won anything, but he's going to be one now

I think UAE will release him from his contract, but not to go to Visma. In any case, it would be a mistake for him to leave one team because he can't lead the Tour and join another with the same problem.

I think he'll end up at Bora if Remco ends up at Ineos.
Roglic doesn't have many years left, and he has no room for improvement before the Tour.

In any case, to win the Tour, he not only has to beat Roglic, he also be far superior to him.
Remco was at a similar level to Roglic in the 2023 Volta and still has a large gap with Pogacar and Vingegaard in the Tour. Ayuso will have to be far superior to Roglic; if he's tied with him, he'll still be far behind the others.

But he can't wait much longer. Pogacar is still young, and when Pogacar begins to decline, perhaps Paul Seixas or someone else will be there to win the Tour.

Ayuso must change team in 2026.

Some evil part of my brain wants a big private Spanish sponsor to step in and bring him to Movistar. Purely for the resulting Netflix documentary.

 

[Red Rick]

Not sure based on what they don't care about him. It might make sense if they didn't have a rider in front.

 

[Unchained]

He needs to leave UAE asap, but his contract is until the end of 2028... They clearly don't care about him, he isn't their leader, they just do whatever they want as long as it isn't Pogacar. Can'it imagine him wanting to ride there for another 3.5 years.

I actually can't imagine were these comments come from, especially after English and Spanish press conferences post race by Isaac Del Toro were he said plainly that he will support Juan Ayuso's pursuit of the win or GC result if that is what the team decides. Del Toro in both languages said he respects Ayuso and considers him the leader. Ayuso got his first grand tour win days ago, Del Toro, second. Ayuso and others crashed, UAE made critical decisions to contest stage with surviving riders, with injury status of Ayuso uncertain, but regardless of ability, Ayuso, lost time and critical positioning, UAE made decisions that were prudent on multiple levels with Del Toro getting a fantastic ride, good result, and Ayuso and others able to remount and finish, still in excellent position for team objectives. UAE giving textbook example of making the best of a bad situation. And as all can see from Cycling News and other bike racing media, there is great interest in UAE and their riders, today's race and results from Del Toro, Ayuso and others only amplify the interest in UAE racing

 

[Mako]

Let's see what the ITT brings. Pretty disappointed in Juan Ayuso's finish today

 

[Berniece]

I actually can't imagine were these comments come from, especially after English and Spanish press conferences post race by Isaac Del Toro were he said plainly that he will support Juan Ayuso's pursuit of the win or GC result if that is what the team decides. Del Toro in both languages said he respects Ayuso and considers him the leader. Ayuso got his first grand tour win days ago, Del Toro, second. Ayuso and others crashed, UAE made critical decisions to contest stage with surviving riders, with injury status of Ayuso uncertain, but regardless of ability, Ayuso, lost time and critical positioning, UAE made decisions that were prudent on multiple levels with Del Toro getting a fantastic ride, good result, and Ayuso and others able to remount and finish, still in excellent position for team objectives. UAE giving textbook example of making the best of a bad situation. And as all can see from Cycling News and other bike racing media, there is great interest in UAE and their riders, today's race and results from Del Toro, Ayuso and others only amplify the interest in UAE racing

In an interview with Eurosport Del Toro was asked: "You are one of the strongest riders in the Giro, maybe even the strongest. And you're in pink." The answer of Del Toro was: "Yeah, it's free to dream." and afterwards he was asked: "Maybe you'll even win the Giro". To which he answered: "Yeah, maybe I will, we'll see".

Sorry, but that doesn't sound as if Del Toro is riding for Ayuso. Which is fine, btw, UAE should be able to bet on multiple horses. I've got a much bigger "problem" with the other two.

McNulty and A. Yates basically finished together with Ayuso. There is a case to be made for Yates due to previous results in GT's, but McNulty should've finished minutes back, because he should've emptied himself completely for Ayuso, and to make sure the gap with Roglic would be bigger.

This is just typical UAE. When Pogacar is riding, everyone knows who to work for. And then in other races, everyone thinks this is finally their chance to shine, and everyone rides for themselves. Staff doesn't care as long as one of them wins, but this was a missed opportunity to put more time into Roglic and have a bigger shot to win the Giro.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

In McNulty's defense, he looked very banged up. He had blood all over his arm and a rather terrible-looking wound. He seemed to be in survival mode, just riding along in case of emergency but hardly able to help.

 

[jmdirt]

In an interview with Eurosport Del Toro was asked: "You are one of the strongest riders in the Giro, maybe even the strongest. And you're in pink." The answer of Del Toro was: "Yeah, it's free to dream." and afterwards he was asked: "Maybe you'll even win the Giro". To which he answered: "Yeah, maybe I will, we'll see".

Sorry, but that doesn't sound as if Del Toro is riding for Ayuso. Which is fine, btw, UAE should be able to bet on multiple horses. I've got a much bigger "problem" with the other two.

McNulty and A. Yates basically finished together with Ayuso. There is a case to be made for Yates due to previous results in GT's, but McNulty should've finished minutes back, because he should've emptied himself completely for Ayuso, and to make sure the gap with Roglic would be bigger.

This is just typical UAE. When Pogacar is riding, everyone knows who to work for. And then in other races, everyone thinks this is finally their chance to shine, and everyone rides for themselves. Staff doesn't care as long as one of them wins, but this was a missed opportunity to put more time into Roglic and have a bigger shot to win the Giro.

Instead of just picking quotes, let's watch/listen to the interviews (1:30, 2:02, 4:50, and the end if you don't have time for the entire recap):

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkZIKjls8nI

 

[Cycling111]

He needs to leave UAE asap, but his contract is until the end of 2028... They clearly don't care about him, he isn't their leader, they just do whatever they want as long as it isn't Pogacar. Can'it imagine him wanting to ride there for another 3.5 years.

He needs to change team. But Ayuso can't be sold as a victim of his team, when he himself has behaved this way against another leader far superior to him.

Ayuso's problem is that he can't complain because he not even respected Pogacar's hierarchy.
Ayuso hasn't won a single GT to date. We know he's had a podium finish and can challenge for it, but it's no guarantee.

It makes more sense to play two options with Ayuso and Del Toro than with Pogacar and Ayuso, as Ayuso pretended.
Having Del Toro there is what can give Ayuso the Giro. In a head-to-head, he hasn't proven be superior to Roglic.


He'd also have to accept that he wouldn't have this level of teammates on other teams.
Pogacar won 2020 TDF alone, while Ayuso hasn't proven himself capable of doing that.
Despite today's difference, he'll surely need the UAE's superiority to beat Roglic.
Could Ayuso beat Roglic at the Giro with Movistar? These are questions he'll be asking himself when thinking about changing team..

 

[Jan the Man]

He needs to leave UAE asap, but his contract is until the end of 2028... They clearly don't care about him, he isn't their leader, they just do whatever they want as long as it isn't Pogacar. Can'it imagine him wanting to ride there for another 3.5

He needs to leave UAE asap, but his contract is until the end of 2028... They clearly don't care about him, he isn't their leader, they just do whatever they want as long as it isn't Pogacar. Can'it imagine him wanting to ride there for another 3.5 years.

Not sure why he’d want to leave UAE in short term. Clearly the best team for him if he wants to win a GT

In an interview with Eurosport Del Toro was asked: "You are one of the strongest riders in the Giro, maybe even the strongest. And you're in pink." The answer of Del Toro was: "Yeah, it's free to dream." and afterwards he was asked: "Maybe you'll even win the Giro". To which he answered: "Yeah, maybe I will, we'll see".

Sorry, but that doesn't sound as if Del Toro is riding for Ayuso. Which is fine, btw, UAE should be able to bet on multiple horses. I've got a much bigger "problem" with the other two.

McNulty and A. Yates basically finished together with Ayuso. There is a case to be made for Yates due to previous results in GT's, but McNulty should've finished minutes back, because he should've emptied himself completely for Ayuso, and to make sure the gap with Roglic would be bigger.

This is just typical UAE. When Pogacar is riding, everyone knows who to work for. And then in other races, everyone thinks this is finally their chance to shine, and everyone rides for themselves. Staff doesn't care as long as one of them wins, but this was a missed opportunity to put more time into Roglic and have a bigger shot to win the Giro.

Almeida and Yates rode well together in Suisse last year.

I also think they rode as well as they could in the circumstances of the race today.

It is also sensible strategy not to go all in on Ayuso from a team perspective - he has not proven he can win a GT., keeping multiple cards makes sense, though i accept there will come a time after the first tappone where 2 of the 4 up there will have to sacrifice.

Ayuso deserves leadership but ultimately the road will dictate who is strongest from the team as the legs won’t lie in the tappone

 

[Cycling111]

In McNulty's defense, he looked very banged up. He had blood all over his arm and a rather terrible-looking wound. He seemed to be in survival mode, just riding along in case of emergency but hardly able to help.

He worked in these conditions. Also, McNulty only made up a gap of over 30 seconds to reach Ayusos´s group afther the accidente.

Before McNulty's work, Roglic's group had managed to get within 30-40 seconds. He didn't close the gap on Del Toro, but he did help prevent Roglic's group from catching up.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1924117165633921343

View: https://x.com/NBCSCycling/status/1924117165633921343

 

[pastronef]

Ayuso will need stitches on his right knee after the crash (same crash of Roglic, Hamilton, Pidcock, McNulty)

 

[Red Rick]

I forgot but was there any drama about Ayuso not working on any other stage than Galibier last year?

 

[Netserk]

I forgot but was there any drama about Ayuso not working on any other stage than Galibier last year?

All stages, basically.

 

[Unchained]

Instead of just picking quotes, let's watch/listen to the interviews (1:30, 2:02, 4:50, and the end if you don't have time for the entire recap):

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkZIKjls8nI

Thanks for posting this, his English is good and there is zero confusion about if he comes off cocky,overconfident and is talking smack about not supporting designated leaders.
Del Toro has zero military training, that said I will guarantee you that he will follow orders given to him by team leadership and he is not some lofty free spirit full of grand illusion that he is the leader.
And it's not his responsibility if some translation program listened to this and pooped out" yeah I am really strong, super confident and will win Giro" . use another program!!

 

[Unchained]

He needs to change team. But Ayuso can't be sold as a victim of his team, when he himself has behaved this way against another leader far superior to him.

Ayuso's problem is that he can't complain because he not even respected Pogacar's hierarchy.
Ayuso hasn't won a single GT to date. We know he's had a podium finish and can challenge for it, but it's no guarantee.

It makes more sense to play two options with Ayuso and Del Toro than with Pogacar and Ayuso, as Ayuso pretended.
Having Del Toro there is what can give Ayuso the Giro. In a head-to-head, he hasn't proven be superior to Roglic.


He'd also have to accept that he wouldn't have this level of teammates on other teams.
Pogacar won 2020 TDF alone, while Ayuso hasn't proven himself capable of doing that.
Despite today's difference, he'll surely need the UAE's superiority to beat Roglic.
Could Ayuso beat Roglic at the Giro with Movistar? These are questions he'll be asking himself when thinking about changing team..

Both Ayuso and Del Toro very happy to sign multi year extensions with UAE, because someone crashed on some bizarre novelty gravel insert, no support stage, seems really whacky to conclude that anyone is unhappy with team, unhappy with world, TDF champion in same stable.
Just an absolutely insane conclusion because UAE, race favorite crashed and or punctured that there is some deep seeded turmoil going on with anyone at UAE, feels more like projecting than poignant points of fact.
Without asking him, everyone in the world should, can conclude that Isaac Del Toro doesn't want a transfer anywhere, he is very very happy where he is and who he is with..
Anyone changing from current UAE to Movistar should be on concussion protocol.
Ayuso signed until 2028, Del Toro until 2029 ,closest thing Isaac will get to Movistar is if he uses their cellular phone service... Lol!!!

 

[Berniece]

Just an absolutely insane conclusion because UAE, race favorite crashed and or punctured that there is some deep seeded turmoil going on with anyone at UAE, feels more like projecting than poignant points of fact.

Sure, it's very normal that McNulty basically finished together with Ayuso in such a stage. Nothing going on at all... Let's also forget TDF last year. Ayuso is clearly very liked in the team, and a leader people want to ride for.

 

[AlfaLum]

I think UAE has done everything it could to give Ayuso the real captaincy in this race.

He has been leader in every race this season so far, often with the help of del Toro, himself who also reached very good levels in Tirreno, Basque and Ardèche.

He was also the first one to attack in stage 7 of the Giro, while del Toro was also looking great but seems to have gotten instructions only to follow.

Now however stage 9, a race which you cant tactically plan to its full degree has decided that Ayuso will have a co-leader in del Toro. Of course we get all the good answers from Isaac now, but UAE will not make him work for others being in pink while he is in this form.

Its unlucky for Ayuso that the race has decided that he gets another team-mate as a co-leader. But i dont think UAE should have done anything differently. Asking del Toro to drop back would have been crazy.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Beppe Martinelli going full 2015 Giro and saying they should have stopped Del Toro to pace for Ayuso to increase the gap to Roglic.😂
Meanwhile Gibo says they made the right call because Ayuso isn't a proven gt winner and you don't sacrifice your 2nd option + there was also Bernal up front.

 

[Salvarani]

I think UAE has done everything it could to give Ayuso the real captaincy in this race.

He has been leader in every race this season so far, often with the help of del Toro, himself who also reached very good levels in Tirreno, Basque and Ardèche.

He was also the first one to attack in stage 7 of the Giro, while del Toro was also looking great but seems to have gotten instructions only to follow.

Now however stage 9, a race which you cant tactically plan to its full degree has decided that Ayuso will have a co-leader in del Toro. Of course we get all the good answers from Isaac now, but UAE will not make him work for others being in pink while he is in this form.

Its unlucky for Ayuso that the race has decided that he gets another team-mate as a co-leader. But i dont think UAE should have done anything differently. Asking del Toro to drop back would have been crazy.

Well put.