Juan Ayuso takes first win of 2025 - Spanish climber wins Drome Classic with long solo attack
CyclingSunday, 02 March 2025 at 16:15
Juan Ayuso has not had the best season last year, mainly with his Tour de France debut being overshadowed by internal issues and a Covid-19 infection. 2025 started off strong for the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider, who takes his first win of the season today at the Drôme Classic with a stunning solo attack.
The race was not overly hard, and didn't suit the climbers as well as Saturday's Faun-Ardeche Classic where he and several other riders steered off course in the final meters. This time around there was no waiting until the end, as Ayuso attacked with 40 kilometers to go, as the day's breakaway was caught.
It was an effective attack, immediately distancing the group of the main favourites and creating a big gap. Ayuso, in Pogacar style, took a solo win without ever being seen again by his rivals - a great sign of form ahead of the spring's stage-races.
Mattias Skjelmose had shortly after rode out of the group in chase of the Spaniard but was unable to go beyond a second place. In the peloton, there was still a large group fighting for third place and it was Ben Tulett who took the bronze.
| 1 | Ayuso Juan | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 200 | 04:31:48 |
| 2 | Skjelmose Mattias | Lidl-Trek | 150 | + 23 |
| 3 | Tulett Ben | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 125 | + 01:15 |
| 4 | Hirschi Marc | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 100 | + 01:15 |
| 5 | Bagioli Andrea | Lidl-Trek | 85 | + 01:15 |
| 6 | Godon Dorian | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 70 | + 01:15 |
| 7 | Champoussin Clément | XDS Astana Team | 60 | + 01:15 |
| 8 | Simmons Quinn | Lidl-Trek | 50 | + 01:15 |
| 9 | Barguil Warren | Team Picnic PostNL | 40 | + 01:15 |
| 10 | Fortunato Lorenzo | XDS Astana Team | 35 | + 01:15 |
| 11 | Burgaudeau Mathieu | Team TotalEnergies | 30 | + 01:19 |
| 12 | Aranburu Alex | Cofidis | 25 | + 01:20 |
| 13 | Delettre Alexandre | Team TotalEnergies | 20 | + 01:20 |
| 14 | Madouas Valentin | Groupama-FDJ | 15 | + 01:20 |
| 15 | Woods Michael | Israel-Premier Tech | 10 | + 01:20 |
| 16 | Rota Lorenzo | Intermarché-Wanty | 5 | + 01:24 |
| 17 | Barré Louis | Intermarché-Wanty | 5 | + 01:26 |
| 18 | Vervaeke Louis | Soudal Quick-Step | 5 | + 01:26 |
| 19 | Gualdi Simone | Intermarché-Wanty | 5 | + 01:26 |
| 20 | Carboni Giovanni | Unibet Tietema Rockets | 5 | + 01:26 |
| 21 | Valter Attila | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 5 | + 01:30 |
| 22 | Martin-Guyonnet Guillaume | Groupama-FDJ | 5 | + 01:30 |
| 23 | Breuillard Nicolas | St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93 | 5 | + 01:30 |
| 24 | Hamilton Chris | Team Picnic PostNL | 5 | + 01:30 |
| 26 | Paret-Peintre Valentin | Soudal Quick-Step | 5 | + 01:30 |
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