"I knew I had to wait until the end" - Juan Ayuso on how he beat Primoz Roglic at his own game in Catalunya
Cycling
The new leader of the general classification of the Volta a Catalunya 2025 is Juan Ayuso. Today's triumph was already his fifth in the 2025 season and it took him straight into the race lead after he outsprinted none other than Primoz Roglic uphill.
The UAE Team Emirates leader beat Primoz Roglic by photo-finish at the finish of the final climb to La Molina. With this victory, the Spaniard the Slovenian 6 seconds away in the overall classification.
Marc Soler from UAE was very active on the final climb, putting on pressure for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe. But Ayuso knew that for the main riders it would come down to a sprint, and he didn't risk burning matches early on. Things would come back in the final 500 meters of the climb as Giulio Pellizari, Esteban Chaves and Felix Gall each took turns in the head of the peloton ahead of the steep ramp to the finish line.
He explains the strategy that he and the team followed: "I knew that in La Molina these circumstances could occur. That's why I didn't want to move. I knew I had to wait until the end. It was very important to win. Although the final goal is the overall classification, in this race taking the stages is very important because of the bonus seconds. In recent years, the Volta has been decided by a few seconds, so that's why it was crucial".
With an impressive sprint, he managed to overtake Roglic in what is his own favoured terrain, and hold off the gap in what was a thrilling photo-finish.
"There is no extra pressure. This year we have Marc Soler with the number 1 on the jersey, I hope that next year we will also be here with the same number," he concluded.
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😮Quin final a @SnowLaMolina!
— Volta a Catalunya (@VoltaCatalunya) March 26, 2025
🔥 ¡@juann_ayuso ha podido con @rogla en #LaMolina!
🏆Juan Ayuso @TeamEmiratesUAE takes the win and is the new leader!#VoltaCatalunya104 pic.twitter.com/y9VF1nVPm2
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- agreed. flanders is a beast. i like tadej, but i’m full on rooting for mathieu next sunday.OCexile29-03-2025
- Indeed, strong as ever on the flat, maybe stronger on climbs. There are very few records within reach for contemporary riders (Cabendish had to extend his career to get his and took twice as long as Merckx to equality), this would be one that would be very hard to take away.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- I thought newspeak was condensing any statement into the smallest number of pertinent words.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- flanders is mvdp’s favorite race and he’s one win away from being the lone record holder with 4 wins. i’d be very surprised if the gap that pogačar opened in him there 2 years ago wasn’t THE major focus of all his training. and when mathieu has a goal, he turns himself inside out to achieve it. we’ll see next week if he got there, but i’d agree with van avermat’s assessment of van der poel’s fitness.OCexile29-03-2025
- It’s almost like newspeak. It’s classics season, Pogacar’s main rival has always been van der Poel. Then grand tour season will begin, and we will pivot mid sentence and Pogacar’s main rival will have always been Vingegaard. What a season this promises to be. Let’s hope they stay healthy (and Vingegaard gets past the concussion).RidesHills29-03-2025
- Great that he’s decided to do Flanders though his weight remark is irrelevant, Mads is proportionately heavier and MVDP has the same weight but is around 10cm shorter.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- Yeah, looks slow up there.Jumpyjohn28-03-2025
- lol His aim was well off! MVP was well past him before the guy decided to spit.Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025
- But you know that’s what makes this website live ;-)Mistermaumau28-03-2025
- I hope he stays upright too and I hope that in this years Paris Roubaix we get a proper good old fashioned man against man race. Can't wait!Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025