Ayuso’s last year with UAE did not go well, though the team managed to set a new record for wins in a year, currently at 91 and almost certain to hit 92 when the apparently invincible Tadej Pogačar wins Saturday’s Il Lombardia for the fifth consecutive year. The quarrel with the team began during the Giro d’Italia and has created more headlines since then than Nicole Kidman’s divorce from Keith Urban (you didn’t know?).
A less-than-enthusiastic welcome
And things haven’t gone super-great so far with his new team, with its current GC rider, Mattias Skjelmose, complaining about the fact that he hadn’t been informed about the move and then questioning what his future role will be. “I’m going off what the team has told me, which is that they believe in me,” he said. “I’m not sure if Ayuso’s arrival has anything to do with that. They’ve been saying for a few years that they want to build a team around me, but I don’t think they brought him in as a helper. We’ll see what happens.”
The Dane then questioned his new teammate’s willingness to work for a team. According to Skjelmose, the big question is: “If Ayuso finds it difficult to ride for Tadej Pogačar at UAE, then I don’t know if he’ll want to help me at all when it comes down to it.”
Acutely aware of his reputation, Ayuso tried to calm things down. “I can understand some parts of [his statement],” Ayuso said Sunday at the European Continental Championships, according to Feltet.dk. “If the team has said, ‘You are the leader,’ I can understand a certain kind of frustration.” But the 23-year-old Spaniard pointed out that cycling’s top teams all feature multiple star riders, including his former team, which is one reason he made the move. “It’s normal if you want to be a super team that you keep signing good riders. UAE, Visma, and now Red Bull have a lot of riders who are racing for the general classification. You can’t be a super team and only have one rider.”
Which has become increasingly true as cycling continues to evolve and more moneyed sponsors, like Lidl-Trek, have come into the sport. All eyes will be on Ayuso, who will have to perform up to expectations and demonstrate a willingness to work for the team, and Skjelmose, if that is required. But one can understand the Dane’s agitation. At age 23, Ayuso already has 16 wins, including the Tirreno-Adriatico this year and three Grand Tour stages. At 25, Skjelmose has 14 wins, including this year’s sensational victory in the Amstel Gold Race. But he has a poor Grand Tour record, his best finish being a fifth place in last year’s Vuelta. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who will be the team’s principal rider.
A one-time Visma future star departs
Another important move was that of the 22-year-old Cian Uijtdebroeks from Visma–Lease a Bike, where he was once regarded as a future Grand Tour star, to the Spanish Movistar team, which has fallen on hard times and has registered only nine wins this year, four of them in national championships. Their main man, Enric Mas, is 30 and has had a winless season, which ended prematurely when he crashed out of the Tour de France and was diagnosed with thrombophlebitis in his left leg. Movistar also signed the 24-year-old Raúl García Pierna from the probably soon-to-be-defunct Arkéa–B&B Hotels, giving the team a solid cadre of young riders, along with Pablo Castrilla (24 years old), the Czech Pavel Novák (20), and Iván Romeo (22).
Another important move was that of the 22-year-old Cian Uijtdebroeks from Visma–Lease a Bike. © Profimedia
“If I have to follow my heart, I want to ride the Grand Tours and compete for the GC. That is also my ambition for the coming years,” Uijtdebroeks said. “Next year, I want to participate in the Giro and the Vuelta again to compete for a good GC. Movistar feels like a warm family that wants to support me there. That’s why I’m leaving for this family.”
Rooijakkers joins Longo Borghini
There was also a pretty big deal for women’s cycling. The indefatigable Dutch rider Pauliena Rooijakkers, who did so much work for her country in the recent European Road Race Championship, won by compatriot Demi Vollering, is leaving Fenix-Deceuninck and moving to UAE Team ADQ, where she’ll be joining the likes of two-time Giro d’Italia Women winner Elisa Longo Borghini and the rising 23-year-old French rider Maeva Squiben, who announced herself by winning two successive stages at this year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift with long solos.
“UAE Team ADQ has shown a very professional structure and clear ambitions, with strong leaders like Elisa Longo Borghini and a constant focus on winning, Rooijakkers said about the two-year deal. “The team’s vision, the way they work, and their attention to detail convinced me that this was the right place to continue my career.”
She made it clear that her ambition was to support Longo Borghini and the rest of the team. “I see myself as a hardworking support rider for the team, but also as someone who can show her strengths, especially in the mountains,” she said. “My main goal for the new season is to be there for my teammates in the biggest races, like the Giro and the Tour. Of course, I also aim to stay consistent and achieve strong personal performances. But the team’s success always comes first.”
Israel–Premier Tech sues Derek Gee
On a final note, the Canadian champion Derek Gee unilaterally broke his contract with Israel–Premier Tech on August 25, due to “serious concerns related to racing for the team, both from a safety and personal-belief standpoint.” Israel–Premier Tech have declared that Gee’s contract, which runs until 2028, is valid. He has not yet signed with another team and now claims that Israel–Premier Tech is demanding he pay upwards of €30 million in damages for breach of contract.
Gee’s issues with the team included the protests that have dogged it during races this year as a result of the Gaza conflict. “I terminated my contract with just cause, as is every person’s right when they are unable to continue performing their work under the existing circumstances,” he wrote in a statement published on social media. “This decision was not taken lightly – it followed an irreparable relationship with the team principal, as well as serious concerns related to racing for the team, both from a safety and personal-belief standpoint that weighed heavily on my conscience.”
The statement went on to say, “I understand the team sees if differently, and that it will be for the competent authorities to decide; however, I am now facing what I understand to be a damages claim said to exceed 30 million euros – for doing nothing more than exercising my fundamental rights as a professional and a person… These actions are also a reflection of the very issues that led to the breakdown of the relationship to begin with.”
The 28-year-old Gee is one of the good guys of the peloton and a talented rider who finished fourth in this year’s Giro d’Italia, suggesting that he was just coming to the peak of his abilities. I hope he finds another team soon and that the UCI will be able to resolve the situation in such a way that no one loses face or funds.