"Not a single gesture of empathy. Not even a hug" - UAE under fire for cold reaction to Juan Ayuso's Giro d'Italia abandon
CyclingFriday, 30 May 2025 at 10:15
Stage 18 of the 2025 Giro d’Italia got off to a rough start for Juan Ayuso. The Spanish rider showed the press his swollen eye, the result of a wasp sting he suffered the day before. Despite having no vision in that eye, he decided to get on the bike and try to support UAE Team Emirates - XRG, which has just four stages left to defend Isaac del Toro’s pink jersey.
But no matter how hard he tried, it was clear from the very first kilometres that Ayuso was in bad shape. When the first climb of the day, the ascent to Parlasco, arrived, Ayuso called over the UAE Team Emirates - XRG car — things were clearly not going well.
Despite that, Juan attempted to push on, but just two kilometres later, after showing visible signs of weakness in his pedalling, he made the decision to abandon the Giro. It was what happened next that sparked controversy. As he stepped off the bike, there was no visible sign of consolation or empathy from the UAE team, which led to harsh criticism from former rider and current Eurosport commentator Juan Antonio Flecha.
Flecha didn’t hold back in his assessment of the Emirati team: “A rider steps off the bike just two days before the end of the race, while you're defending the lead, and there’s not a single gesture of empathy. Not even a hug,” Flecha remarked.
Ayuso's swollen face at the startline of stage 18
Even if some of Ayuso’s decisions during the race may not have pleased the UAE team, Flecha emphasized that it’s no excuse for how he was treated: “Ayuso may not have shown his best form, but the team director in the car seemed more concerned with other things — getting water or dealing with something else — when the priority should’ve been supporting a young and important rider who’s just dropped out. Juan had his problems and couldn’t overcome them — fine. But management also needs to be emotionally present for the rider, and in this case, they weren’t. It wasn’t a good look,” Flecha concluded.
Unfortunately, @juann_ayuso has been forced to leave the #GirodItalia on stage 18 🇮🇹
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) May 29, 2025
The stage 7 winner tried to battle on through knee pain and a bee sting, but despite his best efforts, it is time for Juan to rest up and recover for his next goals.
Feel better soon, Juan 🙏… pic.twitter.com/HS2XwzOWtj
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- He'd won the Giro after all. That should put him as the strongest rider by itself. His rivals couldn't match him on the Finestre. Superior team tactics, but also superior legs by no means. He didn't even miss a doping test. Believe it or notBM06-06-2025
- Solid worker this guy 💪
leedorney06-06-2025 - One of the amazing things about cycling is how many races are happening at the same time. Stage, GC, and (as is clear here) job. It’s what makes the sport so interesting. On screen maybe not much is happening, but and yet so much is happening.RidesHills06-06-2025
- In contract year, i would say that if team duties permit, you are allowed to market yourself.abstractengineer06-06-2025
- Now its not a good team for talent development and opportunities. With Tadej hogging the GTs and the Monuments and the rest left fighting for scraps, there is very little chance for leadership roles which are critical in development of future greatsabstractengineer06-06-2025
- That is why talents shouldn't sign long term contracts of 5+ years. It leaves them vulnerable to team's decisionsabstractengineer06-06-2025
- OMG you've never been in a sprint if you get touched a little and stop sprinting ! Stay back on the peleton then if you can't take a lil' touch !frieders306-06-2025
- I guess that I'll need to find another sport to follow then.
santiagobenites05-06-2025 - Agreed, this sprint s is not woethy of a religation penalty! This should be re examied ou tof fairness.sam05-06-2025
- no brilliance from Yates or Visma?? you don't win Grand Tour without being strong rider. He stayed podium thru mtns without teammates Toro had full team of super climbers.Brilliant WVA and Yates, both monumental, inspiration comebacks, crushing the ride (all-time record time and he's not strong?). We all know Toro and Carapaz failed, but they didn't trust their legs; you might win by a few seconds if the others look at each other but not 5min.ccpivo05-06-2025
Flecha should remember he is a journalist now, not a Spanish fan.
Commentator, not journalist and since when don’t sports commentators have the right to be fans or show preference for their country’s participants? Even journalists (and supposedly unbiased newspapers) tend to focus on their countries, why else does someone like Raducanu get more articles in the anglo press than Sinner and Djoko combined?
If the mistake is made by many, that doesn't mean it's not a mistake. Obviously, pure objectivity doesn't exist, but if you're a communicator you should at least try instead falling into fanatic sentimentality.
Christ woman, you're as cold hearted as UAE! ;/
Agreed. We don’t know the kinds words that might have been said prior/after the stage. But during the race they need to attend to the riders in the race.
Agree MIJ: this version of Ayuso, a victim mistreated by his team because in the middle of the stage they didn't stop his job hugging him, kissing him, singing him a soothing lullaby can only be conceived by an excited fan (Mr Flecha).
Except when it comes to Italian riders who don’t torture cats ;-)
Maria, you picked on one pretty short comment Mr Flecha made during a long afternoon of commentary, at the time when that was the “action” on screen, that was probably mostly unbiaised. Sorry, tell me one commentator who is objective when his horse is in a race (to complicate: Belgian commentators critical of WVA during his bad patch or Remco over life choices also counts in the opposite way). That doesn’t seem very objective about his general reporting from your side either. I can’t vouch as I don’t watch anglo commentary anymore for being too anglo biased (and now that Eurosport (ironically), TNT, Sky, etc are US service assets that my dear friend Trump conveniently ignores when calculating his biased tarifs, I feel doubly vindicated in boycotting) but I can’t imagine their spectators sticking around long if he was as constantly totally biaised as made out here.
MisterMauMau: Yes, for sure you're right, Mr. Flecha is not the unique biased commentator, but the article talk about him. Moreover, I watch cycling races with "ambient sound", I like the sensation of being there (racers chats, public, wheels, brakes...) and I don't like being influenced by journalists, commentators and so long.