"In the end, they took almost no time on me" - Juan Ayuso saves the day by pacing himself wisely on the summit finish
Cycling
Juan Ayuso was just unable to hook up with Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard on the final climb in a tough mountain stage of the Vuelta a España. The young Spaniard fought back well in the last kilometer and stranded seven seconds behind the Jumbo-Visma duo.
After a few relatively quiet sprint stages, it was a full house race at the Vuelta on Thursday. On the mercilessly grueling course, the riders ensured a spectacular race, which eventually led to a huge leading group of almost forty riders. "It was a brutal stage," Ayuso said afterwards to Esciclismo, among others.
On the final climb it was Roglic who opened the ball with the classification riders. "When Roglic attacked, I tried to follow him. When I noticed that it wasn't working, I decided to keep to my own pace."
The limited loss to the Jumbo-Visma leaders made Ayuso satisfied. "In the end, they took almost no time on me." However, there was a big setback for UAE, Jay Vine went down for the umpteenth time this year and had to stop the game. "We were in a very good position with several riders in the standings. His fall and subsequent abandonment are a sin."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- He didn't even try to sprint all outvappaxbipmv18-10-2026
- Campenaerts looked like a rolling pumpkin with that all orange leaders skinsuit !frieders318-10-2026
- He can take his dumb a$$ politics somehwere else !frieders318-10-2026
- good to have her back. fingers crossed she‘ll be able to stay!Ketterechts17-10-2026
- A tenner and he wins the Tour next year, too 😂anonymouscyclist17-10-2026
- the answer is either stick to classics or GTs but not bothabstractengineer17-10-2026
- the exodus already stared with Ciccone. Already they were struggling with two sprinters, now there are three. Also Ganna will demand leadership. Gall is the most proven GC, Ayuso has the most potential. GC leadership for everybody will be impossible. Literally a UAE style mess without pogi.abstractengineer17-10-2026
- I raced as an amateur for 12 years, including six years on my country’s national road cycling team. I secured two national titles and competed in three World Championships plus more than 15 international stage races. At 23, we travelled to Italy for a training camp—or so I assumed. On a rest day, we watched a presentation about adopting a more “professional” training approach. It was crystal clear what “professional” meant. That moment first exposed me to this dilemma. After returning from Italy, I left cycling—at least at the competitive level I had known. Over the following two years, the whole team was caught doping. I hold that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. In my view, current stakeholders operate on a different scale, and the sums involved are vast. I am unsure whether any doping would ever be revealed. I try to stay positive and enjoy the show. My 2c.
vannpelt17-10-2026 - Fiver he wins 🤣
leedorney17-10-2026 - “…measures to reduce speeds.” Might as well shorten the race course to just 50km as well? ASO generates at minimum €300m a year and 30- 40% profit. Maybe stop being greedy and spend more of the profit to protect the riders instead.b3tlla17-10-2026
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