Chasing Pogacar - Juan Ayuso will not race La Vuelta; Focuses on World Championships and Il Lombardia
CyclingSaturday, 15 August 2026 at 11:54
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.
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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)...
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- I think you're too harsh on Ayuso. He did let Pog down in the 2024 Tour, but it turned out he had Covid, and Gianetti's furious response to him abandoning from what was then a very serious illness was not rational. Maybe Pog expected Ayuso to shrug Covid off the way he had done shortly before that Tour.Hills3315-08-2026
- I still consider Ayuso a traitor. He betrayed Pogi several times, just didn't want to help him. It was his job, he was payed for it, but still kept "stabbing" Pogi in the back. He also stabbed Del Toro in the back last year at the Giro, didn't want to help him. That's why they kicked him off the UAE team. I'm glad that this year he didn't come close to Del Toro, I won't even talk about Pogi. Once a traitor, always a traitor. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans15-08-2026
- This makes sense. I think Jonas could be pretty good in certain one day races. But he is never going to thrive in one day races if he does one per year as an afterthought.mobk15-08-2026
- The 10 best male pro riders of the last 8 decades - From Merckx to Pogačar to...??? Won't mention them all but only the first two: no. 2 Eddy Merckx and NO. 1 - The one and the only...The Greatest Of All Time - The G.O.A.T. ... TADEJ POGAČAR alias POGI alias BABY HULK alias THE SLOVENIAN ALIEN Anyone got anymore names?😃😃😃PogiSloFans15-08-2026
- Volta Portugal is incompetent race organizers and not fit to orginaze a race. Total amateurs.miguel15-08-2026
- Johan, don't you worry, Pogi can do it all... the Vuelta, the WC and Lombardy... o yeah, let's not forget the European Championships in Slovenia. He's gonna win everything, if he doesn't crash or become ill.PogiSloFans15-08-2026
- What Trine actually meant: “I exactly know which races would be the obvious ones for my hubby Jonas, NONE!!! And I know he will never recover from that collarbone injury. Maybe next year... MAYBE!!! So no racing till then. Jonas still has to finish of the chidrens rooms and the bathroom. Capish?" PS: Sarcasm press.PogiSloFans15-08-2026
- If that is so, then he has a great wife👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾cyclingfan2615-08-2026
- I’m not necessarily an Ayuso fan, but definitely not a hater. But I feel bad for the guy. Wins a stage race, 2nd in another. Top 10 at the TdF. And they call it a rocky season. He’s 23, ten years ago this would have been his first season after coming out of U23 racing. Yes it was rocky in regards to the crash, but historically if a team had a 23 year old that won a stage race, 2nd in another, and top 10 in the TdF he would be hailed as a second coming. Today they almost call him washed up.mij15-08-2026
- Trine said "You are not going to Canada and that`s final"...........😂
Senna196015-08-2026
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