PRESS CONFERENCE | "That definitely hurts a lot, i'm lucky today is a rest day" - Juan Ayuso required 3 stitches after crash in the gravel
Cycling
Juan Ayuso entered the Giro d'Italia perhaps as the main favourite alongside Primoz Roglic, but at the end of the first week we've got a much more dynamic situation. The Spaniard perhaps is in pole position to win the race, but has to contest with an impressive teammate in Isaac del Toro and a second crash in the race that has left him with three stitches in the knee.
Ayuso saved the day in the gravel, one could say, having been heavily supported by an incredible UAE Team Emirates - XRG in terms of depth. Ayuso could not avoid hitting the ground during stage 9 and was left with a wound in the knee that requires healing and recovering.
He is thankful on the rest day to be able to take the time and recover from it, whilst his easy training ride calmed down the fears of a greater injury. He recalls this Sunday's stage in which he won significant time on Primoz Roglic and also what to expect from the upcoming time-trial.
Question (Luca Bianchin): We did not have your point of view after yesterday's race. It was quite a special one with Isaac leading and you trailing in the back. Can you pelase tell us your impression about the race, if everything went well for you, or if apart from the injury if there was some kind of disappointment from you or if you're happy.
Answer: I think for a team it worked really well. I would've prefered to not crash again. I had the crash, the problem was I fell right on top of my knee where I opened the bruise and I had to have three stitches. That definitely hurts a lot, I'm lucky today is a rest day. It happened ideally on the 'best day' to happen, it's always best to happen before the rest day. Today I tried to recover from it.
Once the crash happened the race exploded and it went full gas and it was always in these small groups going to the finish, it was super hectic and quite a stressful day. I was always crossing my fingers not to get a puncture because the cars were never behind, but I think i saved the day and Isaac did an amazing day. Overall, it went quite well.
Q (Bram Vandecapelle): For the first time-trial you were already crashed on the first day and we all heard you had some injury from that. Now yesterday you fell again and tomorrow time-trial... How did you feel today on the bike and how are you looking towards that? Because the time-trials, before the Giro, were where you looked to gain time.
A: As I warmed up it got better, so I hope that with another day recovering it should get better. The positive thing is it's not muscular, it's purely the bone, so if it gets better it shouldn't really affect my performance because yeah it's not the muscle. It's the knee, it's the bone, so as I said, I started training today quite worried the first 15-20 minutes but when I arrived to the hotel I'm quite calm. If it gets better in training it's only the impact and nothing more serious. It's never ideal to hit the ground but I think I should be ok.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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