"I'm happy to have made it to the front" - Juan Ayuso happy having survived Jumbo and Evenepoel's attacks at Vuelta a Espana

Juan Ayuso finished third in the very hard stage of Xorret de Catí in the eighth stage of the Vuelta a Espana. After the finish, he was asked if he was surprised by Jumbo-Visma's strategy of chasing the breakaway.

"I wasn't surprised, having riders like Roglic who can do what he did today and win the stage, I wasn't surprised that they were pulling," he told reporters on site. "I was really looking forward to it, because it was on home roads, with a lot of people cheering me on. I had a bit of a difficult day and I didn't win, but I'm happy to have made it to the front".

It was for good reason, the pace of Remco Evenepoel up Xorret de Catí didn't allow for attacks, and only a few riders managed to keep up with the tough pace. Ayuso was on the verge of being dropped but hung on until the summit, and then in the sprint rode to third - winning six seconds, in bonus and on the road, for the few riders who sprinted behind him.

He commented on João Almeida's crash on the day which threatened the team's depth in the race: "He didn't hurt himself when he fell in the dry, but it's better not to fall. He also came with us, so it's good". UAE remains with three riders in the fight for red as Marc Soler continues to put on an impressive performance. With Jumbo-Visma now in the lead, the youngster is happy that the team does not have the responsibility to put on the chase. "Yes, of course, it's good for us, they are very strong and even if they have to pull they are still going to be very strong, let's see if we can take advantage of something," he concluded.