INTERVIEW | Joxean Matxin talks Joao Almeida, Vuelta a Espana and Juan Ayuso's future: "Rumours are rumours but the truth is he's under contract and that's a fact"

With the 2024 Vuelta a Espana kicking off with an individual time trial in Lisbon, there is potential for UAE Team Emirates to put down an early marker as they look to complete a hat-trick of Grand Tour wins this season.

Ahead of the stage getting underway, CyclingUpToDate spoke to UAE Team Emirates boss Joxean Matxin to get his thoughts. "There are many good riders for today. From Primoz Roglic to Joshua Tarling, Stefan Kung and Wout van Aert, I think maybe five seconds will decide who wins," he predicts. "It's a straight day, it's in the early moments and there is a light wind."

With the likes of Jay Vine, Brandon McNulty and other such names as Adam Yates and Joao Almeida among others, UAE Team Emirates has plenty of potential riders to threaten the stage win and the first Red Jersey of the Spanish Grand Tour. As Matxin notes however, it is the wind that could perhaps play a key role in the winner of the day. "Maybe in the first part it is covered, but in the second part it is exposed. It's not technical but it's whether you take the risk with the big wheel in front that's the complicated thing," Matxin explains to us.

"Normally, Joao could do well. But it's raced on the bicycle not on the paper," Matxin laughs. "This is dependant on the legs but he's motivated and he's in Portugal. It's a good time-trial for aero and for the powerful and Joao is both so it could be a good time trial for Joao."

A notable absentee from the Vuelta lineup of UAE Team Emirates however, is Juan Ayuso, someone who would ordinarily fancy his chances on a stage such as this. "I have spoken to Ayuso, he called me last week. After the Tour de France, he didn't recover perfectly and without a good feeling it made no sense to race the Vuelta a Espana," he says of the Spaniard. "He's still just 20 years old. He's a key part of the team for the future and for the present. Rumours are rumours but the truth is he's under contract and that's a fact."