Juan Ayuso was not happy to see large breakaway ride away with the chance for stage win: "I was a bit disappointed about it"

Juan Ayuso celebrated his 21st birthday on Saturday with the penultimate stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The UAE Team Emirates rider would have loved to gift himself a stage victory, but soon realized that it would not be possible.

Ayuso, who will finish fourth in the general classification of the Vuelta on Sunday in the Spanish capital Madrid, already understood after the start. "When I saw that large breakaway, I knew we would not catch them. However, I did have two good teammates at the front who could try," he refers to Marc Soler and Finn Fisher-Black.

The leader would have liked to see things unwrap differently, he honestly admitted. "Maybe it's a bit selfish, but I was a bit disappointed about it. I really wanted to try and go for that stage win, but it is what it is. Now I have to come back next season!"

On the last climb, the GC rider still had to respond to several attack attempts. "We went full throttle for a while. Mikel Landa and Enric Mas tried to drop me, but I had a good answer ready. I also felt good," says the winner of the youth classification.

"Last year I wore the white jersey for the entire race, but it wasn't mine then," Ayuso says again. "This year I can celebrate it in Madrid. I may not have finished on the podium or won a stage, which was my ambition, but I think all in all it was a pretty good Vuelta. "At least I have the white jersey," he is satisfied with the result achieved.