Matxín believes that Juan Ayuso can beat Primoz Roglic in the Giro d'Italia: "He is a killer"

Primoz Roglic is the big favorite to win the Tour de France 2025, and his closest rival according to the bookies is Juan Ayuso. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader has arrived in Italy in the best form of his career, and he should have the full support of the team behind him.

The manager of the Emirati squad, Joxeán Matxín, confessed in Marca that they trust in the Valencian to win the maglia rosa in Rome: "He's a killer. It doesn't affect him that it's his first Giro. He has ambition, but he's balanced. He knows he's a winner and the results back him up".

He is very clear that they have come to the Corsa Rosa with everything studied to be able to take, as last year with Tadej Pogacar, the race victory and pink jersey, "We have a plan to try to win this Giro. It's been studied."

He warns that depending on how the race goes, the team will behave one way or another: "If it's our turn, we'll lead. It all depends on whether you're at the top or further down. But the Giro is not easy to control, many breakaways break the plans. We'll have one attitude or another depending on the stage".

And he also warns that in a race like this you can lose everything in a second: "At any moment you can go home, as happened to Mikel Landa, who had never seen him so fine. You have to go day by day, with the dream of achieving it, but knowing that we can not throw the bells to the flight".

After the first test of fire for the men in the general classification, Juan Ayuso is fifth in the race, 16 seconds behind Primoz Roglic, who showed very good legs in the initial 13-kilometer time trial. The Valencian rider rode a very good Volta a Catalunya until the end in Montjuic where he made a positioning mistake that he cannot repeat in the Corsa Rosa. We will see if he is able to fight Primoz Roglic for the pink jersey, a man who knows exactly how to win a grand tour.