Yesterday at 15pm the UAE Team Emirates he lined up in front of a computer camera Ayuso, Matxin and Del ToroThe purpose of the meeting was answer journalists' questions the day after the brutal stage of Siena, in which the Mexican ran away and the Spaniard in the white jersey chased him, with the occasional assistance of Ciccone (opening photo). Without the help one might have expected from Yates and McNulty, except for brief stretches.
Maybe nothing really happened or maybe all hell broke loose, in any case It would have been naive to expect that the boil exploded liveWithout going too far back in time, we have experienced identical situations in which at that table, but without cameras, there were sitting Cunego and Simoni, as well as Armstrong and Contador. And none of them, even though they were dealing with much greater tensions, said a single word that could compromise the team's path. Only that In person you understand much more than what you can grasp from a close-up shot., without a before or an after.
What seemed unusual in the entire 40 minutes was the imbalance of questionsWhile international journalists have addressed them almost exclusively to Del Toro and Matxin, the Spaniards looked for Ayuso and almost not at all for the young Mexican.
Ayuso's knee
If Sunday After arriving Ayuso had stopped to hug Del Toro, as Yates and McNulty did when they arrived in Siena with the Spaniard, then perhaps no one would have thought it was an anomaly. Instead Juan disappeared: just for the knee blow?
«I would have preferred not to fall again – he says – I hit it right above my knee where I already had a bruise and needed three stitchesIt definitely hurts a lot, luckily today was my rest day, so I tried to recover. When I started pedaling this morning, it really hurt. Then when I warmed up it got betterI hope that with a full day of recovery, it will improve even more. The good thing is that it's not a muscle problem, it's just the bone and maybe then it shouldn't affect my performance in the time trial that much."
A Mexican in pink
Del Toro he has a cheeky look and a quiff that he often tidies with his right hand. Despite being the leader of the Tour of Italy, carefully avoids getting too far ahead of himself. He says he received a message from Pogacar about winning yesterday's stage: if you can do it – that's the gist – you have to do it.
«It's my first Giro – he says – I'm thrilled to be here with the team and proud to hold this positionIt's like a dream. I have a strategy: give it my all and always have a goal. But I try to keep my feet on the ground. I'm excited. Sometimes I'm more nervous, sometimes I'm normalI'm only 21, but that's okay. I don't feel too much pressure. My body is responding well day after day and I'm super proud to be Mexican and to have the support of my countryWaking up in the pink jersey was incredible, I can't quite fathom it. The real problem was going to bed and trying to sleep."
Putting a good face on a bad situation
Making the best of a bad situation: that's the first commandment. And Ayuso is very good at it. At one point, while the others are speaking, he makes a paper airplane and throws it into the room. Del Toro laughs.
«If they had told me I would arrive on the first rest day with more than a minute's advantage over Roglic – he explains – being second in the general classification, I would have signed without a shadow of a doubt. So I think that as a team we are in a privileged position and that now it's just a question of continue to gain time on our rivals and have a good weekThe approach doesn't change, there is always respect for the leader. I want to win the Giro, but if I have to lose it, at least I hope a teammate wins it.In a three-week race you have to know how to spend the days, both when you win and when you lose. You can get hurt, but you have to know how to handle it.. And that's exactly what it's all about, in a race that lasts three weeks."
All for Ayuso
Matxin, Ayuso's cycling father, is the final word. The two have known each other since Juan began to grow up and show flashes of talent that have made him one of the most promising young riders in the world.
«There is no problem – says the manager – Juan continues to be leader, as we said and as we planned: absolutely nothing changesThere is respect for our leader and we will work as a team, as we always have, but now Isaac is the pink jerseyI just have to worry about give them all the tools so that they can demonstrate the talent they haveI believe in Juan and Isaac, I love them because they are two easy boys to love. They are good people, they have talent, they have class and if they win races, they do it because they are very good."
Maybe what is missing at the moment is a nearby opponent who scares himOn those dirt roads, Roglic lost ground like the unfortunate Evenepoel in the 2021 Giro. When you've fallen once, certain roads block you, they become quicksands of fear and you can't get out of them.But if today Primoz came back with a stellar time trial like that of Tirana, perhaps so much embarrassment from abundance would begin to vanish.
