"It's not normal for someone to be that good" - Juan Ayuso lauds Tadej Pogacar as cycling's Lionel Messi
CyclingSaturday, 03 May 2025 at 09:45
Tadej Pogacar has earned himself the reputation as the leading the light of his generation, thanks to some epic performances over the last few years. Whether or not the Slovenian is the greatest of all-time is a question that will likely never see a unanimous response from fans, but according to UAE Team Emirates - XRG teammate Juan Ayuso, Pogacar is the cycling equivalent of football genius Lionel Messi.
In a pre-Giro d'Italia interview with Wieler Revue, Ayuso spoke in depth about his goals for the future and working alongside the current world champion at UAE. "I actually see myself more as a climber. Time trials are crucial for a general classification rider, because in the mountains it’s harder to gain back one or two minutes,” the Spaniard says of himself, as he looks to take the next step in 2025 with a potential Maglia Rosa win in Italy. “It’s definitely an advantage, but I also want to become a better climber to close the gap to guys like Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, and Primoz Roglic."
Notably, Ayuso doesn't mention his teammate there, and that isn't a lapse in memory either. "No, I’m not mentioning Pogacar. If I say I want to be better than him, it turns into a media circus,” jokes the 22-year-old. “But of course, my dream is to become the best rider in the world. To be like him someday. Still, let’s be clear - I don’t see him as a rival. He’s the benchmark, the one every rider wants to reach."
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Ayuso and Pogacar haven't raced together all that often compared to some other UAE teammates. At the 2024 Tour de France, when the pair were together, things didn't exactly go to plan for Ayuso either. "Not being able to support him in last year’s Tour de France was tough," he admits. "But our relationship is totally fine. We’ve talked about it privately, and he understood.”
And ultimately, it seems as if there is a lot of respect from Ayuso towards his superstar teammate. “It’s true we’re one of the best teams in the world, and that means I’ve got a lot of strong teammates. If you want an opportunity, you have to prove yourself. If someone else is better, then you help them. That pushes everyone to perform at a higher level. Only Tadej is the undisputed team leader," he explains. "Everything is a little easier for him, haha."
"He’s simply the best rider in the world and he makes it all look so effortless. Friends outside of cycling sometimes ask me if it’s normal for someone to be that good. It’s not," concludes Ayuso. "What he does is like Lionel Messi dribbling past everyone as if they weren’t there. Messi makes it look easy - and in cycling, Tadej is our Messi.”
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- Totally agree. He did way better than could realistically be imagined, problem was, Pog also more or less. In the end the difference isn’t insurmountable and had there been no Pog, EVERYONE normal would have been full of admiration that he’d won it after his spring. Don’t know many riders to come back from so low to so high so fast.Mistermaumau29-05-2025
- I was counting on the Rogliduritis bacteria but this definitely beats it ;-)Mistermaumau29-05-2025
- Commentator, not journalist and since when don’t sports commentators have the right to be fans or show preference for their country’s participants? Even journalists (and supposedly unbiased newspapers) tend to focus on their countries, why else does someone like Raducanu get more articles in the anglo press than Sinner and Djoko combined?Mistermaumau29-05-2025
- Uae never said a single word against Jonas, only admiration. I couldn't say the same about Visma managers, I still remember the unpleasant "put Tadej on his knees". La classe non è acqua.
maria2024202429-05-2025 - If they are both on top form, Pogi will winslappers6629-05-2025
- I'll bet on Pogi every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Especially if Sunday is a mountain top finish.bobo29-05-2025
- Flecha should remember he is a journalist now, not a Spanish fan.maria2024202429-05-2025
- Well the bee was at the back of the race and he would have been at the frontabstractengineer29-05-2025
- Richard Plugge has all the charm of a sea slug. I hope Pogi blasts Vingo back to the fish factory.
ScottG29-05-2025 - The team told him not to start because of the eye injury. He did anyway. What do you want them to do when he climbs off his bike during the stage, bake him a cake? Flecha is such a drama queen, lol.ScottG29-05-2025
Ayuso is the problem child for UAE and he reminds me of another Pidcock. He's a great rider but he's not the great rider he thinks he is. He also won't get the opportunities that he wants at UAE so why stay? Go shine somewhere else mate. UAE keeps him cos he can win a few races but he's not happy winning just those races. He wants the whole deal. He wants Pogis spot and it's no secret. He's already refused to work for Pogi in the past. Go shine somewhere else lad. We won't be mad at you but don't blow smoke and say "everything is fine at UAE and with Pogi" cos they know what you're about and you're greedy. Just another problem child and we are seeing more of them lately. Pidcock was a big one and Ayuso has been acting this way for 3 seasons. ON YA BIKE THEN LAD!!!
"If someone else is better, then you help them." When? I've never seen him helping CONSISTENTLY a teammate. He runs in the back of the peloton, hidden, to avoid help (in UAE and in Spain team). If someone (Almeida, Adam) shouts and scolds him, then he goes ahead and pulls for few minutes/kms (simulation of help).
I agree. This was my comment . . .
Ayuso is the problem child for UAE and he reminds me of another Pidcock. He's a great rider but he's not the great rider he thinks he is. He also won't get the opportunities that he wants at UAE so why stay? Go shine somewhere else mate. UAE keeps him cos he can win a few races but he's not happy winning just those races. He wants the whole deal. He wants Pogis spot and it's no secret. He's already refused to work for Pogi in the past. Go shine somewhere else lad. We won't be mad at you but don't blow smoke and say "everything is fine at UAE and with Pogi" cos they know what you're about and you're greedy. Just another problem child and we are seeing more of them lately. Pidcock was a big one and Ayuso has been acting this way for 3 seasons. ON YA BIKE THEN LAD!!!
I'm sure Ayuso will win and big too, cept theirs always a nemesis in some way..
Even if ROGLIČ is there?
I think Roglic could be the number one for the Giro. He has to stay upright tho😆 He seems to find a way to sabotage himself quite often but I wouldn't mind seeing him win the Giro. I don't like Ayuso, that's for sure. He's greedy and thinks he's gods gift. He thinks he's better than he is and he's not a team player. He reminds me of Pidcock. He's good but he's not happy with the opportunities the team gives him and he throws a tantrum when he's not given more opportunities. It's becoming something we are seeing more and more from this younger generation. They want it all and they want it now and they are going to do it their own way regardless but there's no room for that when you're on a TEAM. He needs to go somewhere else and pave his own road and see how hard it is when he doesn't have a juggernaut team to support him. I'm not a fan of his at all. I don't like selfish and greedy athletes. They are their own worst enemy and something always happens to them. It's just a matter of time before he screws up what he has going for himself
Ayuso is the problem child for UAE and he reminds me of another Pidcock. He's a great rider but he's not the great rider he thinks he is. He also won't get the opportunities that he wants at UAE so why stay? Go shine somewhere else mate. UAE keeps him cos he can win a few races but he's not happy winning just those races. He wants the whole deal. He wants Pogis spot and it's no secret. He's already refused to work for Pogi in the past. Go shine somewhere else lad. We won't be mad at you but don't blow smoke and say "everything is fine at UAE and with Pogi" cos they know what you're about and you're greedy. Just another problem child and we are seeing more of them lately. Pidcock was a big one and Ayuso has been acting this way for 3 seasons. ON YA BIKE THEN LAD!!!
Ok, you’ve posted this 3 times now on the same thread, we got the message. Please prove you’re human and don’t have an agenda by saying it a bit different next time :-)