Another twist in the Juan Ayuso saga! Spanish national coach refutes UAE claims Ayuso was unfit for La Vuelta: "He told me he was perfect"
Cycling
Juan Ayuso did not go to the 2024 Vuelta a Espana and according to Joxean Matxin, UAE Team Emirates' manager, that was because he was not in the right physical shape after the Tour de France. Was this actually the case though?
Well according to the Spanish national coach, Pascual Momparler, in conversation with Marca, Ayuso was in a more than capable shape and that's exactly why he was taken to the recent Paris Olympic Games. "No, no. Juan Ayuso was perfect. If he came it was because he was perfect. I don't know who he told that he wasn't, but he told me he was perfect. And I don't regret having taken him," the coach explains.
Now of course, Ayuso could have suddenly lost form between the Games and the Vuelta, but it would be surprising if after getting sick at the Tour he arrived in Paris well and then fell off after a day's racing. In any case a Vuelta omission was in turn, good news for the Spanish National Team, which seems to be counting on Ayuso for the upcoming World Championship in Zurich, which is well suited to his characteristics: "From today he is working on having a great World Championship," Momparler reveals. "He is going to Canada. He is testing to do the time trial. Ayuso is one of the riders that, for some time, we have been talking about for him to be in the World Championship".
After seeming discontent within UAE Team Emirates towards Ayuso at the recent Tour de France, where both Joao Almeida and Adam Yates voiced frustrations, we'll see what happens in the coming months. If Pogacar still wants to race 2 Grand Tours a year there is only room for the rest to try to win in the remaining one (for example in the Giro next year if, as it seems, the Slovenian dares to do the Tour-Vuelta double). Right now in the UAE Team Emirates inner rankings, seemingly both Yates and Almeida are ahead of Ayuso in the Grand Tour pecking order.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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LET’S GO. VAMOS 🇪🇸🔥 #LaVuelta24 #UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE
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