Here’s our line-up for tomorrow’s #klasikoa2024 : 🇪🇸 @Igorarrieta9 🇨🇭 @janchristen04 🇮🇹 @AlessandroCovi 🇲🇽 @ISAACDELTOROx1 🇨🇭 @MarcHirschi 🇺🇸 @BrandonMcNult 🇫🇷 @PavelSivakov #UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE
Who will lead UAE in the Vuelta a España without Juan Ayuso?
CyclingSaturday, 10 August 2024 at 14:30
Yesterday, it has been virtually confirmed by Gazzetta dello Sport that Juan Ayuso will not be selected for the Vuelta a España. The young rider was present at the Tour de France with the idea of being one of the second option for UAE after leader Tadej Pogacar. However, he did not comply with the indications of the team and they have decided to punish him and not to take him as a candidate to the big one of his country. As if that were not enough, the Barcelona native contracted COVID during the French race and was forced to withdraw before the end.
We analyze this topic together with CiclismoAlDia. For the Vuelta, many wished to see Pogacar at the start after winning the Giro d'Italia and the Tour this season and achieving something historic and unparalleled. However, that will not be the case. The Slovenian himself said, in the words of Geraint Thomas, that he had to leave races to his teammates to keep everyone happy on the team.
Without Ayuso and Pogacar, UAE still has a big chance to win the overall classification, which would make them win all three grand tours this year, as Team Visma | Lease a Bike did last season. The difference would be that they would achieve it with two riders while Visma achieved it with three different riders. As of August 10, 2024, they would take Isaac del Toro, Adam Yates, Joao Almeida, Marc Soler, Pavel Sivakov, Filippo Baroncini and Brandon McNulty in the lineup. One spot remains but Ayuso will certainly not be taken to the race. The likes of Finn Fisher-Black, Rafal Majka and Jay Vine are strong contenders for this spot. But who will lead the team?
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Joao Almeida
The Portuguese is perhaps the UAE rider with the best chance of winning the Vuelta. He is having a spectacular summer. In the Tour de Suisse, in eight stages, he was six times in the top four, four times in the Top 2 and took two victories, finishing second in the final overall classification behind his teammate Adam Yates, who we will talk about next. In the Tour de France, he played a fantastic role. He ended up being Tadej Pogacar's best teammate, finishing fourth overall ahead of leaders of other squads and showing his best level as well as the traditional consistency.
Adam Yates
Very similar season to Joao Almeida, especially in the last few weeks. He won the Tour of Oman in February, taking the queen stage on the last day of the race, but an injury at the UAE Tour changed his spring plans quite a lot Like Almeida, he was in Switzerland. He managed to finish in the top two five times, taking two stages for his personal palmarès, in addition to the final overall classification. In the Tour, he finished close to his Portuguese teammate. In his case he was sixth, five minutes behind the Portuguese, but having played a mostly domestique role for the team leader.
João Almeida and Adam Yates dominated the 2024 Tour de Suisse together. @Sirotti
Isaac del Toro
The Mexican will make his debut in a grand tour at the age of 20. The winner of the Tour de l'Avenir 2023 is surprising many in his first season in the elite. He won a stage incredibly quickly after his debut with the team and also finished on the podium of the Tour Down Under.. He was fourth in the Tirreno Adriatico, behind Jonas Vingegaard, teammate Juan Ayuso and Jai Hindley. He also finished seventh in the Itzulia, won the Vuelta a Asturias with Top 3 finishes in all stages stages of the race, winning one, and 13th overall in the Tour de Suisse where he supported the two teammates above. He could very well do what both Pogacar and Ayuso did in their first season as pro riders in UAE - finish on the podium at an extremely young age in their Grand Tour debut.
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- Thanks Dadmobk22-12-2024
- Hard to believe with the advancment of modern medicine he can not find a cause for this.frieders321-12-2024
- You continue to platform these two cheats. With that in mind I can no longer use your site. I know my leaving means little, but, sometimes you have to take a stand. See ya!DJ21-12-2024
- Look at what Froome’s won since his last TdF, stop denying there is still more than possible one outcome to the future.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- Bruyneel understands nothing about clean competition.Sweep21-12-2024
- Exactly. Remco won 3 WT races/stages last year compared to Pogocar's 19. Remco's single stage win in last years TdF earned him a meager 12 seconds over Pogocar who shellac'd him by 9 minutes in GC.Sweep21-12-2024
- Fortunately and as you point out, more than one strategy is possible and worth trying and I’m sure all concerned riders are well informed and counselled on this subject and don’t need such basic personal advice through media from an outsider.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- The main SPOTY award is "decided" by public vote but the BBC "expert panel" decide who you can choose from, that choice has an equal split of genders and is focussed on the sports BBC show and a disabled athlete. Oh yea the ubiquitous "Pub Games" candidate there too, Darts and Snooker are not sports. The other awards are decided by the "Expert Panel" again it's about the sports BBC show, cycling has had it. Cav got his for his years and achievements in the sport, not just that 35th TDF win. Unless the BBC get access to Pro Cycling it will never feature "adequately" on SPOTYslappers6621-12-2024
- Ahhh..... you have to understand the "strange" diversity concepts of the BBCslappers6621-12-2024
- Avoiding him is a good strategy, you get more wins and then you can compete in the TDF relatively relaxed. Pit yourself against Pogi and not only there will be no wins, it will be considerable mental setbackabstractengineer21-12-2024