Juan Ayuso full of ambition: "My dream is to personally win the Tour de France one day. But to race my first Tour in a team that wins it would be a good start”

21-year-old Juan Ayuso will embark on the first Tour de France of his career in 2024. Part of a UAE Team Emirates super team built around their crown jewel Tadej Pogacar, the Spaniard is looking not only to help, but to learn.

“It’s a dream come true. I’ve said many times that it’s a race I went to see when I was on vacation with my family when I was 10 or 12 years old,” Ayuso says in conversation with Cycling News. “It’s the biggest race in cycling and it’s the biggest dream. My dream is to personally win the Tour de France one day. But to race my first Tour in a team that wins it would be a good start.”

With Ayuso and Pogacar joined by the likes of Adam Yates, Joao Almeida, Marc Soler, Pavel Sivakov, Tim Wellens and Nils Politt, the strength in depth of UAE Team Emirates at the 2024 Tour de France is completely unmatched. As such, team leader Pogacar, fresh off the back of his Giro d'Italia win, starts as the heavy pre-race favourite.

“If I have the legs then I think I can help him. I’ve never raced a stage race with him so it’s difficult to say but everything seems easy with him, so I think it will be alright,” says Ayuso, excited to get to work so closely alongside the Slovenian superstar over the next few weeks. “If Tadej is… you can’t call it secure, but if he’s comfortable with a lead he has and then I can also get my opportunity like Adam [Yates] had last year and try and go for the podium or for stage victories, then that will be super nice.”

As far as his own ambitions go, Ayuso is confident he can impress despite his domestique role. “I think the Tour this year is a good parcours for me. One of the time trials is flat, where I think I can perform well and one is hard, where I think I can defend myself,” he concludes. “Hard stages are hard like they are everywhere else so I think it’s a good race for me and I also cope well in the heat. I think all the team is focussed on Pogacar doing the Giro-Tour double and that’s what we’re racing to achieve.”