{"id":329865,"date":"2025-12-05T17:40:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T17:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/329865\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T17:40:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T17:40:19","slug":"i-feel-a-bit-sorry-for-juan-ayuso-geraint-thomas-luke-rowe-urge-uae-castoff-to-go-and-make-a-name-for-yourself-at-lidl-trek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/329865\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI feel a bit sorry for Juan Ayuso\u201d \u2013 Geraint Thomas & Luke Rowe urge UAE castoff to \u201cgo and make a name for yourself\u201d at Lidl-Trek"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Thomas and Rowe didn\u2019t go into those specifics on the pod, but their tone made clear they understood why Ayuso felt boxed in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 23, mate \u2013 go make a name for yourself\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe opened the discussion by highlighting the significance \u2014 and inevitability \u2014 of Ayuso\u2019s departure: \u201cAnother guy who\u2019s broken a contract and moved on \u2013 and it seemed like there was a bit of controversy there, hope it\u2019s all worked out \u2013 is Ayuso to Trek.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then outlined exactly what Lidl-Trek gain: \u201cTrek are one of the best teams in the world. They perform in the Classics, they win sprints, they win multiple stages with guys like Mads Pedersen, but they\u2019ve lacked in the GC ranks really. They\u2019ve got Skjelmose, Ciccone \u2013 who\u2019s going down a different route and said this year he doesn\u2019t want to ride GC in Grand Tours.\u00a0So that team was so well-rounded, but the one part of the puzzle they were missing was a world-class GC guy \u2013 and now they\u2019ve got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas added that UAE were far more prepared to part with Ayuso than other teams facing high-profile departures: \u201cYeah. I think it\u2019s slightly different to Remco Evenepoel’s transfer in that UAE were probably more willing to let Ayuso go than Soudal – Quick-Step were to let Remco go, because Remco was the team really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas then gave his clearest description of Ayuso\u2019s character: \u201cAyuso wears his heart on his sleeve a bit, doesn\u2019t he? Obviously a quality bike rider. I don\u2019t know him well, but from the interactions I\u2019ve had with him he\u2019s just like a young\u2026 pit bull, really. A bit aggressive, wants to get stuck in, wants to win races \u2013 ambitious. That\u2019s the word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe believes moving was the only way Ayuso could step out of UAE\u2019s overcrowded GC environment: \u201cAnd you can, let\u2019s be honest, 100% see why Ayuso did it. It\u2019s clear as day. We don\u2019t need to go through all the names, but there are all these GC guys at UAE and he\u2019s just one of many.”<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s finished third in a Grand Tour, fourth in a Grand Tour in \u201822, \u201823. The last few years he\u2019s not really had full support in a Grand Tour,” continues the Welshman. “He\u2019s 23, mate \u2013 go make a name for yourself, go win a Grand Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas then came back to the part he said at the very top of the show \u2014 and now backed it up: \u201cExactly. I feel a bit sorry for him with how it all happened \u2013 I\u2019m sure the team didn\u2019t want that either \u2013 but you can\u2019t fault it. He\u2019s an ambitious kid, he wants to go out and win races.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given Ayuso\u2019s experience of internal rivalries at UAE, the strained Vuelta announcement, and the breakdown in trust with management over contracts and role clarity, Thomas\u2019s sympathy now lands with much clearer weight.<\/p>\n

Lidl\u2013Trek finally fix their Achilles heel<\/p>\n

With Ayuso arriving at a team that already enjoyed one of its best seasons in 2025, Thomas pointed out the timing is ideal: \u201cFair play to Lidl-Trek. They were probably one of the standout teams, for what they actually did. Green Jersey in each Grand Tour \u2013 they really stepped up this year. Fair play to them. And the one Achilles heel in the team \u2013 that big GC leader role \u2013 they\u2019ve filled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas also believes his former teammate and Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart<\/a> could have more presence next season, helping to give Ayuso a stable environment he never enjoyed at UAE.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing back from his injuries. Tao was a bit up and down this year. But that\u2019s what it\u2019s like after a big injury. Look at Egan, look at Froome\u2026 you can go well, and then you get a little setback and it\u2019s just hard. So fair play to Tao for that.\u00a0He (Ayuso ed.) will have some decent boys around him \u2013 Ciccone and that. It\u2019ll be interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Geoghegan<\/p>\n

Geraint Thomas has backed his former teammate Geoghegan Hart to have a much better 2026 after injury hit few years<\/p>\n

A fresh start for the most scrutinised young rider in the peloton<\/p>\n

For Thomas and Rowe, the conclusion is simple: Ayuso needed out, he needed leadership, and Lidl\u2013Trek needed him.<\/p>\n

Ayuso\u2019s revelations about internal politics, communication breakdowns, pressure tactics, and feeling pitted against his own teammates frame the move in an even clearer light. For two riders who\u2019ve lived through decades of team dynamics at the highest level, their advice is blunt and wholehearted. “Go make a name for yourself, go win a Grand Tour.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thomas and Rowe didn\u2019t go into those specifics on the pod, but their tone made clear they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,79612,63567,171886,49602,165723,85,184620,175637,19805],"class_list":["post-329865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-geraint-thomas","tag-giulio-ciccone","tag-juan-ayuso","tag-lidl-trek","tag-luke-rowe","tag-sports","tag-tao-geoghegan-hart","tag-transfers-negotiations","tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}