"I knew I had a chance to win" - Juan Ayuso bounces back with first win since difficult summer
Cycling
Juan Ayuso has had a difficult summer, abandoning the Criterium du Dauphiné, then the Tour de France with Covid-19; and lastly not being able to race the Vuelta a España. In many ways a difficult few months for the UAE Team Emirates rider; but he has bounced back to strong form at the Tour de Luxembourg where he won today's time-trial.
The 15-kilometer time-trial was well suited to the Spaniard, who took his first win since the Itzulia Basque Country, and won against the clock once again after beating Filippo Ganna earlier this year at Tirreno-Adriatico in what was a truly breakthrough ride in terms of time-trialing abilities. After a few good days in Luxembourg, he was the main favourite and has put in a strong performance to win stage 4 today for UAE - win number 74 of the year, quickly followed by Filippo Baroncini at the Super 8 Classic.
"I had good legs, so I knew I had a chance to win. Aerodynamics were important, but you also had to have the legs on the climb to make the difference. Today I had both, so that's why I win here," Ayuso said in a post-race interview. Ayuso was 7 seconds faster than Antonio Tiberi on the day and has jumped to second place in the overall classification, only 3 seconds behind Mathieu van der Poel whilst Marc Hirschi is also relatively close to the yellow jersey.
Ayuso is focused on winning the overall classification and tomorrow there is another hilly stage where there is an opportunity to do it, before making the trip to the World Championships. "We are going to do our best to win the race. It was full throttle from the start. When I saw the course this morning, I thought it was very nice," he concluded.
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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.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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🏆 VAMOS JUAN!!! You’re back on the podium @juann_ayuso 👏 #UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE #SkodaTour2024
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