Chasing Pogacar - Juan Ayuso will not race La Vuelta; Focuses on World Championships and Il Lombardia
Cycling
With the Tour de France having come to an end, Lidl-Trek's Juan Ayuso has taken time off the bike and has returned to training. His goals for the end of the season will not include a return to La Vuelta; but instead a schedule packed with one-day races including the World Championships.
A rocky season for Ayuso
After a few mixed years with UAE Team Emirates - XRG, Ayuso made a big change this winter to join Lidl-Trek. His first outing at the Volta ao Algarve was perfect, with him winning the overall classification and also the final stage to the Alto do Malhão in yellow.
The Spaniard looked to find a fitting environment, weeks later also finding himself in the lead of Paris-Nice as Jonas Vingegaard's biggest rival. A fall in the French race spelled distaster, effectively ending his spring still in early March.
His return to form came only in June, with Ayuso racing to the podium of the Tour Auvergne - Rhône Alpes, were he looked to be the second strongest climber in the race. He transferred that form onto the Tour, spending the three weeks racing for the Top5.
Whilst Ayuso proved effective in this, stage 19 to Alpe d'Huez saw him struggle and lose two positions. He eventually raced to seventh in the overall classification, one behind Mattias Skjelmose who will also be getting a leadership role at the Vuelta a España. Ayuso will not race his home Grand Tour, but instead focus on the late-season one-day races.
Ayuso at the 2026 Tour de France
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Ayuso follows 2025 formula once again
The Spaniard, in 2025, raced the Vuelta a España and in his final races of the season, the form was there and he was in contention for the one-day races he set out to. Despite being a stage-racing specialist, he has found himself able to contest for the hilly races as well.
In the Kigali World Championships, he found himself racing with then-teammates Tadej Pogacar and Isaac del Toro after Pogacar's attack on Mont Kigali. He eventually finished the race in eighth place; whilst at the European Championships he rode to sixth after spending most of the final section of the race battling for the podium positions together with Remco Evenepoel, Paul Seixas and Christian Scaroni.
Ayuso will return to racing on the GP de Québec and GP de Montréal which will take place on the 11th and 13th of September, according to AS. He will stay in Canada until the World Championships on the 26th of September. With the Worlds, Europeans and Il Lombardia taking place in consecutive weekend, that has become the clear objective for Ayuso - who will not only race in the Spanish colours, but finish his season at Il Lombardia where he should be in the mix for the podium.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
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- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
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