“Remco left a big gap on the descent, I lost out” – Juan Ayuso suffers minor setback in frantic stage 2 finale at 2026 Tour de France
Cycling
Juan Ayuso came through stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de France still well placed overall, but the Spaniard conceded three seconds in the frantic Barcelona finale after a split opened on the descent towards the Olympic Stadium.
The Lidl-Trek leader finished 12th on the stage, just behind the front group that contested victory on Montjuic. Isaac del Toro took the win ahead of Tadej Pogacar after UAE Team Emirates – XRG dominated the finale, while Remco Evenepoel finished third and Jonas Vingegaard fourth on the same time.
Ayuso avoided serious damage, but the small gap meant he missed the chance to contest the stage or fight for bonus seconds on a day when Pogacar moved to within six seconds of Vingegaard’s yellow jersey.
“Remco left a big gap on the descent, I lost out,” Ayuso explained after the finish. “But I didn’t have the legs to win, so it’s no problem.”
Ayuso stays fifth despite losing white jersey
The finale had already been reduced by UAE’s pressure on the repeated Montjuic climbs, with Brandon McNulty and Adam Yates helping to thin the favourites’ group before the final run towards the Olympic Stadium. Ayuso survived that selection, but the descent after the final climb left him on the wrong side of the decisive split.
Even so, his GC position remains strong after the opening two stages. Ayuso sits fifth overall, 19 seconds behind Vingegaard, with Pogacar second at six seconds, Evenepoel third at 15 seconds and Del Toro fourth at 16 seconds.
Ayuso also played down losing the white jersey, which moved to Del Toro after the Mexican’s stage victory. “Looking at it quickly, we’re in a good position, up there,” Ayuso said. “It’s a shame to have lost the white jersey, but that way I can rest for the podium.”
Juan Ayuso on stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de France
“We’ll save our strength for the Tourmalet”
Asked about Del Toro’s victory and UAE’s control of the finale, Ayuso kept his focus on his own race. “We’ll focus on our own thing,” he said.
Attention now turns to stage 3, which Ayuso does not expect to be decisive for the general classification, even if he believes the profile could be raced in different ways depending on Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
“Tomorrow is a strange stage,” he said. “It’s hard, but not that hard. We don’t know if it will be a breakaway stage or if Visma will want to ride for Vingegaard. In my case, we’ll try to get through the day. It’s not a day to make differences, we’ll save our strength for the Tourmalet.”
For Ayuso, stage 2 brought a small loss rather than a major blow. He remains fifth overall, inside 20 seconds of yellow, and reaches the next phase of the Tour with the Tourmalet already marked as the first real mountain test.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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