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.
The 21-year-old Spaniard and UAE Team Emirates took control of the race and looked primed to battle with Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike all week.
“We've just done the first time trial, a lot of things are gonna happen but it's good to start like this,” Ayuso said, trying to reign in his enthusiasm. “Of course with Vinggaard, even if I had one minute, you can’t be secure and you can’t stay calm, there's still a lot of racing to do. But I'm here to try and win the race.”
In the absence of Tadej Pogačar and Adam Yates, Ayuso has total leadership at UAE Team Emirates. He will ride for and alongside Pogačar at the Tour de France, so Tirreno-Adriatico is his chance to shine.
“This race is very important because I'm going to be able to see where my level is compared to Vingegaard,” he said with enthusiasm rather than any fear.
“This is the first really important race where I have to go against one of the best riders in the world. It's a good place to see where I am and know what to work on and how to keep improving.”
Pogačar’s understudy at the Tour de France
A year ago, Ayuso came to visit the UAE Team Emirates medical staff at the start of Tirreno-Adriatico as he worked on his rehabilitation following a complex lower leg tendonitis injury. He gradually recovered, made his 2023 debut at the Tour de Romandie and then finished fourth overall at the Vuelta a España. Now is confident he has stepped up another level.
“We’re actually staying in the same hotel but fortunately I’m in a totally different situation to last year. This winter was perfect, with no inconvenience. I've had a very clean winter, and I hope I can carry on like this,” he said.
Ayuso’s precocious talents have ensured him a place in the UAE Team Emirates Tour de France squad for 2024. He will still be an understudy to Pogačar but will be ready to step up if the Slovenian falters after also targeting the Giro d’Italia.
“The plan for my career was also to ride the Vuelta twice, then the Giro and then the Tour. But I spoke to the team and wanted to get to know the Tour. The team also thought it was a good idea, so that's the plan for 2024,” Ayuso explained.
“The Tour is the biggest dream cyclists can have, and I think I moved one step forward last year. I’m a bit closer now to the guys that are at the top. With the winter and during the season before the Tour, I hope I can climb another big step and be ready.”
Every second will count at Tirreno-Adriatico
First, Ayuso has to defend his lead on Ganna and Vingegaard as Tirreno-Adriatico heads south near the Tuscant coast from Camiore to Follonica on Tuesday and then climbs into the Apennines to reach the Adriatic.
“Leading the race gives us responsibility, but of course, I prefer the time advantage,” he made clear.
“I don't think we're going have to take responsibility for the race because there's a lot of sprinters here and all sprinters want to win stage 2. Perhaps after stage 3, there's going to come a time if everything goes right, then we'll have to take responsibility, but I don't think there's a problem. I think it's a good sign.”
That could even mean sprinting for an intermediate time bonus against Ganna, Vingegaard and anyone else if the chance comes.
“Intermediates in this race are going to be very important,” Ayuso pointed out after laughing about the idea of sprinting to stop Ganna taking two seconds the race lead.
“We're going to have to be careful, but if there's a possibility of grabbing some seconds, and of course we're going to try too.”
