Itzulia Basque Country has a field this year which is extraordinary. With the absolute majority of the best GC riders aiming for the Tour de France this year, they also take part in the final high-level stage-race of the spring. Juan Ayuso is aiming for success in his debut but will have to battle against - to name a few - Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic.
“It will be my very first Itzulia and I am very excited at the idea of racing there. It’s a great race with a lot of history and one that I wanted to do since I was a child," Ayuso said ahead of the race. "The passion for cycling in the Basque Country is incredible and it's something that we cyclists really feed off of. I had a good training block in Andorra and I "I feel like I'm arriving in good shape for the race."
Ayuso started off his season strong this year winning the Faun-Ardèche Classic and the pan-flat starting time-trial at Tirreno-Adriatico. He was second in the Italian stage-race, only beaten by Jonas Vingegaard, but showed the consistency that was missing at times in the past. The 21-year old is taking steps and alongside a very strong UAE Team Emirates which also features Isaac Del Toro, Brandon McNulty, Jay Vine and Pavel Sivakov, the Spaniard is within perhaps the strongest block of all within the race.
"The team is very strong with a strong focus on climbing and we'll be aiming for big results," he concludes. The starting time-trial is a key day for the race where he can take advantage of his skills, but it will be in the climbing tests later in the week that he will truly be put to the test.
Here’s our start times (CEST) for the opening stage TT at #Itzulia2024: 🇪🇸 @juann_ayuso 14:23 🇺🇸 @BrandonMcNult 14:47 🇲🇽 @ISAACDELTOROx1 15:11 🇦🇺 @JayVine3 15:35 🇪🇸 @solermarc93 15:59 🇳🇱 @sjoerdbax 16:23 🇪🇸 @Igorarrieta9 16:57 #UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE
