Who will lead UAE in the Vuelta a España without Juan Ayuso?

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?

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.

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.