19-year old Ayuso climbs Vuelta a Espana GC after peak performance - "I have good feelings and I am happy with the result"

UAE Team Emirates have came to the Vuelta a Espana with undefined roles between their climbers. On the first summit finish at Pico Jano however, it was Juan Ayuso who put on a show and finished fourth in the day, taking time on Primoz Roglic and many of the GC contenders.

“It was a very hard day, especially because of the rain. I knew the last climb, having raced it when I was a junior: I tackled it at my own pace," Ayuso said in a post race interview, "which allowed me to get back into the Roglic group and, at that point, my pace led me to finish in 4th place.

Whilst Marc Soler joined the breakaway on stage five to take the win, Brandon McNulty was nowhere to be seen and fell out of a possible GC tilt on stage six. João Almeida is on paper the team leader after his consistent Grand Tour performances and recent Vuelta a Burgos win, however Ayuso was given a free role on the first mountain stage of the race. He's had strong legs however and managed to ride into fourth place on the day, taking 42 seconds on the Roglic group, and ascending to fifth place 1:12 minutes down on Remco Evenepoel.

"The first stages disputed here in Spain were challenging, but now I have good feelings and I am happy with the result. Day after day, here at the Vuelta I am always learning something," he said. Ayuso's ambitions remain unknown, however the Spaniard is showing strong form coming into the race.