"It was just confusing" - Juan Ayuso on chaotic Volta a Catalunya queen stage cut
Cycling
After an absolutely crazy stage in the Volta a Catalunya due to the changes in the route and the attempts of several cyclists, Juan Ayuso commented on the situation that had developed.
The overall leader explained to the media that more than discussions what had happened was that there had been a lot of confusion due to the complexity of the situation. Let's remember that due to the wind it was not possible to climb any of the passes and that the organizers had planned a safe route. Initially they had intended to race two laps of a 70 kilometer circuit.
They started the race in a neutralized way for safety and then the cyclists pushed and ended up racing 25 kilometers to the finish line, ending the race after the first lap with the corresponding anger of the organizer. This is what Ayuso commented to the media:
"It was a confusing day, I think the organizers did a good job organizing everything very fast, the finish was up and they organized everything down. I think then it was fine to run only one lap of the two scheduled, some riders started to say they didn't want to. The course we rode was perfectly safe, it was a pity we couldn't ride on the climbs."
He insisted on the confusion and defended the organizers: "There were no disagreements before the start, it was just confusing. You talk to one, then when you finish you have to repeat it to another and turn around, then there are changes and you have to repeat it all over again and again, there were a lot of people and it was difficult to agree".
"There were no discussions, the organizers wanted to race but put safety first. I insist that they did a great job making the course safe. I am sorry for them that we did not race more, that we did not race one more lap, they deserved more, there were many people here who deserved to see a beautiful race".
He arrives today at Montjuic with a 1 second lead over Primoz Roglic and with a very clear objective: "I hope to retain the jersey."
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- Powless just got “better” at 28, Rog hasn’t gotten worse at 35, GT only really started getting going in GT late twenties. Give the guy a chance, he’s not even been let off the leash yet, remember what Jonas achieved GT wise since being given leader status.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Jorgenson turns 26 this year, he won't get much bettervappaxbipmv02-04-2025
- i completely agree. wouter has been through a meat grinder. he’s such a class act, a man of such character that he would never complain or make excuses, that’s why it’s so infuriating to hear him spoken about as if he was failing, choking, or in any way not fulfilling what’s expected of him. i get it, he’s a PRO, so part of what he gets paid for is to be a target for anyone with an opinion. fair enough. MY opinion is that he needs TIME to overcome a pile of injuries. i hope he gets there, because he deserves a pile of wins.OCexile02-04-2025
- I just went through the list of events in his recent riding history listed in another article (so not including his very expensive legal affair and any potential trouble at home) and it’s a half miracle he’s still riding at all. He's outfallen Roglič for sure, who always came away RELATIVELY unharmed.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- ugh. slice and dice this any way you like. if you’re one of the belgians TRYING to believe wout is going to be in the fight at de ronde and roubaix, this is an ice cold dose of reality. my opinion is that nobody — ESPECIALLY his own team — should have been fanning any expectations of wout at this point after what he’s endured.OCexile02-04-2025
- I guess when you’re high, you don’t (need to) focus on anything ;-)Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- True but things also change, Primoz will get older, Remco crashes, MJ isn’t peaking yet and people can improve their weaknesses faster than others improve their strengths, cf MVDP climbing, JV TTing.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- Sorry, yeah doesn’t look great but it seems all the recent context gets completely ignored in order to make a big story out of this. Honestly, did anyone at this point really expect Wout to suddenly have recovered all his missing form? Respect to Powless but he’s no nobody, his 2022-2023 presaged something like this. Yes they messed up but it also nearly worked, impossible to know how good your opponent is going to be in such a situation unkess it’s an in form Pog or MVDP. I’d not see this as a disaster but a really bad call, there are positives, they distanced a very strong 2nd group (Mads might be saving himself though) and Wout was very close to a place he’s not heen in a long time. I’d call that progress. Only a few meters would have led to completely different headlines. Why make everything so boack and white? Wout obviously understands and it is in part everyone putting all that pressure on him that led to him making a bad call. That said, had he let his mates go for the win (no guarantee either) héd have received different criticism.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- Pogi is just had 9 days of racing.
James2631802-04-2025 - I’d advise doing brain scans during max efforts, you never know, he may be having micro blackouts without realising it at the time and with a crash you tend not to remember it after either. Like when you nod off a split second while driving, or realise you can’t remember any details from the last few km.Mistermaumau02-04-2025