"I'm going to fight hard for it" - Juan Ayuso back into GC contention after brilliant stage win at the Tour de Suisse

After a disappointing stage 4, Juan Ayuso bounced back brilliantly on stage 5 to take a stunning, solo win and propel himself right back into GC contention.

“Sometimes it is difficult to interpret that. The body works in its own way. Yesterday I didn't have good legs and I had to keep going. But today I felt much better in this tough and long stage," the Spaniard of UAE Team Emirates revealed in his post-stage interview. “It was a lot of climbing and also at altitude. In the end with the higher speed I felt better and better. I attacked with four or five kilometers to go. The confidence was there to keep moving forward and I am very happy that we succeeded.”

Attacking on the final climb, Ayuso quickly got himself a gap. From there, there was no looking back. Powering his way across to the remainder of the breakaway, Ayuso continued to put time into all his rivals. Crossing the line 54 seconds ahead of second place, the 20-year-old is sitting 3rd in the GC only 18 seconds behind race leader Mattias Skjelmose.

“Remco is not very far away in the standings and we know how good he is in the time trial. In addition, Mattias Skjelmose is also good on the time trial bike. And of course Felix Gall is in great shape. It will be very interesting on Sunday, but there are also a few stages left. There will be a lot of fighting for bonus seconds," he says. “If I can win the general classification, it will definitely be one of my biggest achievements together with my podium in the Vuelta last year. That's why I'm going to fight hard for it."