The Tirreno-Adriatico won by Jonas Vigegaard left little doubt as to who was the strongest. The Dane seized his opportunities, won and convinced on the roads of the Race of the Two Seas, his opponents were left with little or nothing. One of the most combative, together with Jay Hindley, was Juan AyusoThe young Spaniard, born in 2000, has put his all into the roads, trying to challenge the overwhelming power of Visma – Lease a Bike. In the flagship, following him, there was Fabio Baldato, the sports director saw him, he spoke to him every dayHe is the best person to talk to about Ayuso's performance.
«We started with the intention of doing well – says Baldato who is currently already in Belgium for the next races – Ayuso made an approach promisingHe won in France at the Faun Ardeche, came second at the Drome Ardeche, and then third at the Laigueglia. In short, it was clear he was doing well.
Prepared Chrono
Ayuso's time trial performance, on the streets of Camaiore, where he preceded Ganna for just a second, it surprised yes, but not too much. The goal of UAE Team Emirates was to start strong right from the start, gaining as much as possible on our opponents.
«In the time trial – says Baldato – we wanted to gain time, especially on Vingegaard, in fact Ayuso put in a perfect performance. Starting it so early was to avoid the rain, then we also had a bit of luck. The last drops fell just ten minutes before he left, so the road wasn't that wet. This made the difference, he was able to push harder in the corners, even if the gap, minimal, with Ganna was determined by the wind. Winning was a piacevole sorpresa».
How did the Tirreno go otherwise?
As we expected, Vingegaard was on another level, he is a guy who cannot be underestimated. We have done our race, as long as the jersey was at home we took responsibility, even in the flat stages. In the first four days we started to check carefully, often pulling the group.
Then came the climbs.
It has been seen that Vingegaard is from another planet, of first hard stage (the fifth, ed.) Ayuso paid a little more. While the following day, in the stage finishing in Monte Petrano, he held his own, losing only 26 seconds.
At what level did Ayuso present himself?
He still has room for improvement, he hasn't prepared the Tirreno as a main objective, therefore doing altitude, home and then the race. But he ran first, so he didn't hold back, as the results show.He arrived in good shape, but not at his best. Vingegaard came from Gran Camino, which he had dominated. While for Ayuso it was the first stage race.
Vigegaard has been really strong, does that scare you for the future too?
He is the best climber in the world at the moment, but we are not without solutions. We have a strong team, which can counter him.. From the way you talk about it, it seems that Ayuso should have given a minute uphill to vingegaard but it can't be like that. The Dane won two Tours, Juan finished third in a Vuelta. Then they are two different ages, Juan is young and still has a lot of room for improvement.
Ayuso often found himself rubbing elbows with Hindley…
That was a more comforting comparison, where our boy held his own against a rider who won a Giro d'ItaliaWe got the most out of it, in my opinion, even considering the last-minute dropouts.
Who?
In the original plan we should have brought Adam Yates, but the fall to UAE Tour prevented us from doing so. With him, who he could have tried to follow Vingegaard uphill We could have had a different run. With a numerical advantage (Ayuso and Yates against Vingegaard), we could have played differently.
Yates was replaced by Del Toro, who did a great job.
We need to build a statue of him. It's not for everyone to be called up at the last minute and be ready, especially when you're so young.He gave Ayuso a big hand, especially in the Valle Castellana stage where he led the chasing group.
What was your assessment of Ayuso at the end of the journey?
Excellent. With the Tirreno concluded Ayuso is the rider with the most points at the momentThen, starting tomorrow, the standings might change, but in a cycling world that also looks at the numbers, it's a great sign. He's growing and improving, there's no need to rush, he'll take care of it himself.
In what sense?
He expects a lot from his qualities. He's a winner, he wants to get there and he's convinced he can do itVingegaard is now a step above, but Ayuso's goal is to climb higher.
