Thursday\u2019s first big mountain stage<\/a> of this Vuelta with Vine, but it lost a key GC strategic player when Spanish hope Ayuso flamed out after losing contact on the 10km climb.<\/p>\nJust a day after UAE won the team time trial, Ayuso plummeted from second overall and leading the young rider\u2019s white jersey to 43rd at 10:14 back.<\/p>\n
Before the headline writers get it all wrong, Ayuso insisted he never came to this Vuelta expecting to fight for the red jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team asked me to test myself, I wasn\u2019t feeling well, and I eased off,\u201d Ayuso said at the line. \u201cThe sensations have been a bit like they\u2019ve been throughout the whole Vuelta.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been saying it since day one, even before the start, that my plan wasn\u2019t to go for the GC. The team asked me to try, to see if things would improve, and out of respect I did. But today, since I still wasn\u2019t feeling good, I let myself drift back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayuso: \u2018I knew how I was\u2019
\n![\"Ayuso\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2232543367-720x480.jpg\")
Ayuso said he was never expecting to race for GC. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a stunning reversal for Ayuso, who finished third in his grand tour debut at the 2022 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
Sport manager Joxean Matx\u00edn Fern\u00e1ndez gave Ayuso an emotional hug at the line as journalists leaned in for his reaction.<\/p>\n
By his own admission, Ayuso came into this Vuelta a bit undercooked, but that didn\u2019t stop the Spanish media from hyping up his chances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t feel the weight of the GC \u2014 that was on you guys,\u201d Ayuso told a horde of Spanish media waiting at the finish. \u201cI knew how I was and what I came here for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayuso took what should be a bitter blow in stride. He insisted that blowing up and then abandoning the Giro d\u2019Italia in May was much worse for his morale.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s normal to create expectations, and people hoped I\u2019d ride for the GC, but for me it\u2019s not like at the Giro, which was a hard blow.\u201d<\/p>\n
After losing time, Ayuso will have more freedom to chase a stage and continue his preparation for the Rwanda worlds, where he will be one of Spain\u2019s top medal hopes.<\/p>\n
Setbacks scramble UAE\u2019s GC tactics
\n![\"Ayuso\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2232513849-720x480.jpg\")
Ayuso started in second overall, but lost contact on the final climb. (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The big climbing stage packs oversized impacts on UAE\u2019s larger strategy for this Vuelta.<\/p>\n
Jo\u00e3o Almeida rebounded after having to change bikes on the penultimate climb to lead the GC favorites across the line behind the day\u2019s attacking riders from the winning breakaway.<\/p>\n
The Portuguese rider settled into sixth overall behind some breakaway riders moving up on GC, but is only eight seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard among the top favorites. Marc Soler also slipped back on GC.<\/p>\n
UAE perhaps already knew that Ayuso wasn\u2019t up to the GC battle, so it sent Vine into the day\u2019s break.<\/p>\n
The Aussie delivered the team\u2019s second straight stage win, and confirmed the team will rally around Almeida in a showdown with arch-rival Visma-Lease a Bike.<\/p>\n
\u201cLosing time is not what you want. We started the day with three guys in the top 5, but Joao is incredibly strong,\u201d Vine said. \u201cHe\u2019s shown all year he can win bike races just as much as the best of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s in incredible shape and we\u2019ll fight as much as possible for the red jersey and hopefully end up with it in Madrid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s up to the Portuguese rider \u2013 who was on a tear this spring before crashing out of the Tour de France \u2014 to try to carry team colors in this Vuelta.<\/p>\n
UAE is still hoping to win its first grand tour since 2020 that wasn\u2019t won by Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n
After Ayuso\u2019s capitulation on Thursday, all the team\u2019s hopes lie with Almeida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”> PAL, Andorra (Velo) \u2014 Jay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,60217,42477,42478,82,1422,42479,32801],"class_list":["post-105289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-jay-vine","tag-joao-almeida","tag-juan-ayuso","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-uae-emirates","tag-vuelta-a-espana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}