“We've had a few years of Pogacar... the change of cycle can't be far away” - Juan Ayuso backed to embrace Tour de France pressure as Lidl-Trek target Paris podium

Juan Ayuso starts the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona carrying the biggest leadership test of his career so far. At 23, the Spaniard arrives as Lidl-Trek’s headline general classification card, with a team built to support his podium ambitions and a race still shaped by the same names that have defined recent editions: Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.

Carlos Verona, one of the key riders tasked with protecting Ayuso across the next three weeks, did not talk as though the existing Tour hierarchy had vanished.

Pogacar remains the reference point, Vingegaard remains the other proven Tour giant, but the experienced Spaniard believes cycling’s current cycle will not last forever.

"Everything goes in cycles," Verona said, according to EFE. "On the one hand, it is a pain to share these cycles with them, because they do not leave room for much else, but they also make the myth of the sport bigger and that helps the wider public get hooked on the race. We have had quite a few years of Pogacar and the change of cycle cannot be too far away, and that is good for new teams to come through. Everything changes."

Ayuso’s move to Lidl-Trek has placed him in a very different Tour environment to the one he knew at UAE Team Emirates – XRG. Instead of existing inside a squad dominated by Pogacar and stacked with other Grand Tour options, he begins this race as the centre of Lidl-Trek’s GC plan.

Verona, who is preparing for his sixth Tour de France appearance, sees a rider still developing into that responsibility rather than one arriving as the finished article. "Juan Ayuso is very young and he has not yet experienced this role of sole leader," Verona explained. "He is in a learning process over the medium term, but we are starting now, and perhaps this can be a good year for him to take two steps at once instead of one. The pressure is not really there either."

For Lidl-Trek, the podium target starts with the first week rather than Paris. The opening team time trial in Barcelona immediately tests the collective strength around Ayuso, before the early road stages bring the usual fight for position, nerves and hidden danger.

Verona believes Ayuso has the personality for that kind of scrutiny. "He manages pressure very well," he said. "He likes winning, being in the spotlight and feeling that he can do it. He is someone who grows in these situations and I am looking forward to experiencing our first Tour together with that ambition. Hopefully everything goes well for us and we can get that podium in Paris."

The opening weekend gives Lidl-Trek an immediate test, with the Tour beginning in Barcelona through a team time trial before the race continues across Catalonia. For Verona, the start carries personal weight as well as sporting importance.

"Barcelona is my second city," said the Madrid-born rider. "I was born in Madrid, but from the age of 16 I lived here before moving to Andorra. A lot of family and friends live here and it is very special."

His own role is unlikely to be defined by headline attacks. Verona’s value to Ayuso lies in road captaincy, positioning, pacing and removing panic from the parts of a Tour where GC hopes can be damaged long before the decisive climbs.

"That is my point of difference," he said. "There are riders who perhaps have that brilliance. In my case, I think that with experience I bring that point of calmness and consistency that is important in a team."

Ayuso already has the profile of a future Grand Tour winner. The Tour now asks for something harder than promise: three weeks of control, recovery, positioning and judgement against the strongest GC field of the year.

Verona did not push Ayuso into a false yellow jersey narrative. Asked about Pogacar, he was clear that "there is no argument" against the UAE Team Emirates – XRG leader being favourite again, because he is "above the rest" of the peloton.

That leaves the podium fight as the space where Lidl-Trek can turn ambition into something concrete. Ayuso no longer sits inside the UAE Team Emirates – XRG empire. He has his own team, his own Tour project and, in Verona, a road captain convinced he can handle the pressure that comes with it.

The change of cycle may not arrive in Barcelona. For Ayuso and Lidl-Trek, the first step is making sure they are still close enough when the race begins to look beyond its familiar names.