UAE's Mauro Gianetti mourns the departure of Juan Ayuso from the Tour de France: "It's a great loss. He was key for Tadej Pogacar"

The Tour de France 2024 has been affected this Friday by the abandonment of Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso, two very sensitive casualties for the race, the second especially for UAE Team Emirates and the general classification goal of Tadej Pogacar.

The Spanish rider tested positive for COVID-19 before the start of stage 13, but claimed he was fine. However, after the infernal pace of the first kilometers, Ayuso was forced to get off the bike and withdraw from his debut in the Grande Boucle as he could not withstand the pace of the peloton.

His withdrawal is a great loss for UAE, which, after the end of the stage, has made it clear that everyone in the UAE team is very affected by this event. This was confirmed by Mauro Gianetti in the statements immediately after the day for Eurosport: "Obviously, it's a big loss for the yellow jersey wearer, Tadej Pogacar. Ayuso was ninth overall, but he was also a crucial help for the Slovenian."

"Losing Juan is a big loss for us, he was one of Tadej's last three riders," added Gianetti in reference to the Slovenian's key domestiques riders when it came to fighting for the overall against a Jonas Vingegaard who is getting fitter every day: him, João Almeida and Adam Yates.

"In the fourth stage on the Galibier with João Almeida, Ayuso was still the man accelerating head to head. That tactic will have to be executed by others in the Pyrenees on Saturday and Sunday. With Adam Yates and João, however, we still have two men in good shape, so we can continue to play our game," concluded Mauro Gianetti.

This Saturday, on stage 14, the gregarious duo will have a key job to help Tadej Pogacar as much as possible. It will be the first day of high mountains in the Pyrenees, with the mythical Tourmalet in between and the high finish in Pla d'Adet. Without Juan Ayuso, Team Visma | Lease a Bike have less of a barrier that they need to take down to get to the yellow jersey of Pogacar.