Juan Ayuso on teaming with Tadej Pogacar : "He’s helping me to become a better rider"

Juan Ayuso is impressing so far in his first full season as a professional cyclist, and despite his extremely young age, he is growing as a strong and complete rider within the peloton, already capable of battling with the best under the right circumstances.

“To be learning from and to be close to the best rider in the world is amazing. He’s helping me to become a better rider," Ayuso said in an interview with GCN. Despite being only 19, Ayuso has made his World Tour debut last season as he undergone a mid-season transfer into UAE Team Emirates. Alongside many of the world's best stage-racers, Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar included, Ayuso has talked about his experience and evolution within the team.

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“I started when I was seven years old, so I’ve been racing a long time, but I still need to discover myself a bit more. I’m still young and I’ll keep improving. I still don’t know if I’m going to be more of a puncheur, or a climber type. I think I still have to discover this. Only time will tell," he said.

After thriving as a stage-racer as an under-23 rider, he's quickly given hints of being more than that in one of his first races with the team as he finished second at Prueba Villafranca last year. This year however, he's not only backed that up with some strong early-season performances, but has thrived in the recent Volta a Catalunya where he finished fifth in the overall classification.

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With Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallone and Tour de Romandie as his next targets, he adds: “I’m happy with my form. It’s the first time I’ve gone to altitude. I went to Sierra Nevada with Rui Costa. I’m on a learning curve, so for sure I need to gain experience to keep learning, but at the same time, we want results now, so if they can go together, then that’s what we want.”

“I think it’s going to be a great season. We’ve planned a great calendar that will help me in my future to keep improving. I just have to enjoy it and get on the road and see where I can perform the best. As every kid, when you grow up you dream of first riding the Tour de France, and now I dream of winning it. For me that’s my biggest goal. There’s still a long way to go, but I hope one day I can achieve it," he concluded. He does not yet have publicly talked about his plans for the late-season, however they are bound to be announced in the coming weeks.