"Ayuso was supposed to do the Tour. Do you see him? No, he won’t do the Vuelta" - UAE team boss has no plans to send Juan Ayuso to ride the Spanish grand tour
CyclingThursday, 18 July 2024 at 12:00
While Tadej Pogacar has a pretty flawless Tour de France, the same cannot be said about his teammate Juan Ayuso. The Spaniard with a Vuelta a Espana podium finish in his palmares was intended to stay in the GC as a co-leader, but as he had to abandon the race during second week, the focus has to shift.
Naturally, Tuttobici asked the UAE Team Emirates boss Mauro Gianetti about whether there is a chance the 21-year-old would return to his home Grand Tour in August. "Ayuso was supposed to do the Tour. Do you see him? No, he won’t do the Vuelta. I have a lot of strong riders to send there," is the strong resolution of Gianetti.
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In recent days, there have been rumors that the young Spaniard has a contract that states that he does not go to the Grand Tours to pull for Tadej. "But do you think I would sign a contract like that?" Gianetti responded. "Whoever goes fast has the team at their disposal. And Tadej seems to go fast and win a lot."
Racing for the UAE's super team, Juan Ayuso won't be always guaranteed a leadership in coming years as there are more potential leaders than actual leadership opportunities. Mario Cipollini believes Ayuso should stay patient rather than seek a way out of his contract, naming examples of greats such as Miguel Indurain or Chris Froome, whose careers also started as other's super domestiques. "He risks stopping racing. I'm exaggerating, clearly, but it's not easy to get out of this situation. However, the risk that this matter will condition his career for years is very real."
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- Wout is an absolute warrior. Trek bossed them all. And JV was nowhere. That being said Id love to see wout winning he’s such a good guy. The giro is long so here’s hoping. I don’t like this article that he should be happy with 2ndmij10-05-2025
- Ineos pretend Thymen's loss is not a big deal, but I don't think this is a good sign. I hope Bernal is fit, would be good for him to have another shot at normal life.Ride197410-05-2025
- To finish second to Mads Petersen in a photo finish, after such a chaotic first stage where Lidl-Trek controlled the race to perfection, while the Visma team was conspicuouly absent, is nothing to be ashamed about. During the interview, Wout was visibly spent, more so than Mads.. but I felt he was more a victor than a loser, given the circumstances. I'm excited to see what Wout will do in this Giro.FredMan10-05-2025
- I feel for Spain. Landa was one of their only two realistic GC hopes.Ride197410-05-2025
- Since the TT has a lot of sharp turns, does that perhaps play in Mads' favor, since he can sprint out of corners faster than many?Ride197410-05-2025
- The point of the article is well taken. Don’t judge a riders grand tour results after one stage. But he is slowly becoming a regular second.mij10-05-2025
- I’m disagreeing with the headline and tone of the article. I don’t even see Wout quoted. And he doesn’t offer excuses. My comment stands. He has no wins in his cobbled monuments. And is second too many times. And shouldn’t accept these results.mij10-05-2025
- Hey, Wout is one of the least excuse seeking riders out there, read the article again and let’s wait and see over the 3 weeks. Also a bad sign if you’re willing to give up on him faster than himself.Mistermaumau09-05-2025
- No more than Primoz at the TdFMistermaumau09-05-2025
- Sorry but Iagree more with the article at this point of the season. Had Mads not had a perfect lead-out it would have been a done deal already.Mistermaumau09-05-2025
Warren Barguil, Jose Rujano and Pierre Roland are great examples of a talented driver whose ego got ahead of his legs and really limited his career through ill-advised movements between teams...
This is the punishment for Ayuso not to do his job in the Galibier, and the more riders I see riding with COVID, the more I think Ayuso was sent home out of disgust for his arrogance than for illness...
Almeida has complained for years about Ayuso's egoism and when that began to impact the Patron, he immediately became dispensable given how wonderfully Almeida, Yates, Pollit, Wellens and Sivakov rode in the TdF...
Ayuso is coming to face with some reality about his role in the team and if he doesn't get a track, his career will be one of the great "What if's" in cycling...
Why did he sign for this team when he knew that Pogacar was the main man? He must have been aware that he would not be allowed to do his own thing in the tour or any race Pog focussed on. I'm guessing his agent said "look at the money they are offering!" For sure a get out of jail card is going to be expensive.
Before this year I thought Almeida might be the superfluous young star at UAE, but now it might be Ayuso.
In theory he could have a great career with UAE:
1) Leading the team in 1 week races
2) Supporting Pogi in grand tours
3) eventually becoming an undisputed grand Tour leader
Seems like he doesn't want to do #2 though. So perhaps he would be better on a lesser team where he would already be leader?
He's young but apparently got an impression of himself...
Juan's stock really declined as a result of his shenanigans in this TDF.
Absent a major course correction in his attitude, his future prospects have really dimmed.
I guess that's what you get for not being a team player.