
Juan Ayuso wasn’t invited to the pre-Tirreno-Adriatico big names photo opportunity but quickly showed his GC contender status and intentions for the seven-day race, and stole a march on his major rival Jonas Vinggaard, by winning the opening time trial along the Lido di Camaiore seafront.
Ayuso beat a still convalescent Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by one second and gained 22 seconds on the double Tour de France winner, 24 on Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and even more on the other GC contender.