Few riders had been such a lot in call for for interviews on the Volta a Catalunya get started on Monday as Juan Ayuso (UAE Crew Emirates-XRG), whose sensible early begin to the 2025 season in France and Italy has brought about a significant spike in expectancies about his probabilities of imaginable degree racing luck this week on house soil, too.
“There are some major rivals here but the Volta is one of the big goals of the season,” the up-and-coming Spanish racer mentioned ahead of degree 1 were given underway. “I haven’t raced here for a long time, but I know that if I want to win, I’ll need to be at my absolute best.”
Ayuso’s handiest earlier journey within the Volta a Catalunya ended with 5th general in 2022, however his notable end result used to be all however eclipsed through the GC drama involving his teammate João Almeida. The Portuguese racer captured the Volta lead with a surprising victory within the Pyrenees, handiest to lose it lower than 24 hours from the end in Barcelona, when Almeida and the entire of UAE had been ambushed through a two-up long-distance breakaway through opponents Richard Carapaz and ultimate winner Sergio Higuita.
Then again, Ayuso has made really extensive development on his personal account since then, and as Ayuso mentioned in a long interview with El Pais ahead of the Volta, issues may infrequently be going higher in 2025. Out of 4 races in 2025, he has 3 wins to this point, together with the Trofeo Laigueglia and maximum not too long ago of all, Tirreno-Adriatico – and he will now be on the lookout for recent luck in Catalunya.
“This is the year where I’ve improved the most, not just because of the results, but also because of how I’ve got them. Now I have to consolidate, make sure this is my new level and it’s not just for a short period of time.
“In 2023 I used to be injured and in 2024 I give up the Excursion and not were given again to my best stage. This yr, alternatively, goes completely.”
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Asked if he now sees himself able to ‘eat meals at the same table as Tadej Pogačar’ – a poetic way of asking if he was now approaching the same level as his Slovenian teammate – Ayuso answered categorically and in the same poetic vein, “he dines by myself”.
“He may lose one race or some other, however there may be no person available in the market like him, who is a favorite in each and every race he begins in, and who is in a position to win all of them.”
The winner last year at Catalunya, Pogačar is not racing here this March, meaning that just like in Tirreno-Adriatico, Ayuso has a chance to fight for his own chances. He came through the opening stage well, too, making it into the right side of a late split and picking up 15 seconds on several of his rivals as a result – though Roglič, too, did not lose time.
As for the Giro d’Italia, with the Spanish media already playing up his chances there against Roglič as well, Ayuso told El País, “Individuals are actually over-egging it”.
“For me it is not like that. It is not as decisive for my profession or my long term.
“If I win it, it’ll be another step forward, and if not, well, I’m 23 and there’ll be plenty of other opportunities to do so. The most normal outcome would be that I don’t win it.”
