\nEarly fireworks<\/p>\n
Both riders exploded out of the blocks in March. Ayuso took wins at the Faun Dr\u00f4me Classic and Trofeo Laigueglia, while Del Toro struck first with a statement victory at Milano\u2013Torino.<\/p>\n
Ayuso followed up with a Tirreno\u2013Adriatico stage win and the overall title, then claimed another stage and second overall behind Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d at the Volta a Catalunya. By May, the Giro start line was loaded: Rogli\u010d and Ayuso were the pre-race favourites for pink.<\/p>\n
Both stumbled, but Ayuso salvaged a stage. Del Toro, on the other hand, soared \u2014 wearing the maglia rosa deep into the race, adding a stage win and leading until the penultimate day. Only Simon Yates\u2019 late surge denied him a stunning overall victory.<\/p>\n
The turning point<\/p>\n
After Italy, their seasons flipped completely. Ayuso\u2019s form evaporated. Del Toro couldn\u2019t stop winning.<\/p>\n
The Mexican sensation went on a tear, taking the Tour of Austria with three stage victories, plus triumphs at the Cl\u00e0ssica Terres de l\u2019Ebre, Circuito de Getxo, Vuelta a Burgos, GP Industria & Artigianato, Giro della Toscana, Coppa Sabatini, Trofeo Matteotti, Giro dell\u2019Emilia, Gran Piemonte and Giro del Veneto.<\/p>\n
He even pulled off a national-championship double at home in Mexico, winning both the time trial and road race.<\/p>\n
Ayuso resurfaced at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a as a late replacement for Poga\u010dar, claiming two stage wins but staying clear of the general classification battle. Soon after, his move to Lidl\u2013Trek was confirmed, ending his time with UAE.<\/p>\n
Numbers tell one story \u2014 context tells another<\/p>\n
By year\u2019s end, Del Toro had racked up 16 wins, twice Ayuso\u2019s eight. But the Spanish rider\u2019s victories carried more prestige: six came at WorldTour level, three in Grand Tours, while Del Toro\u2019s only top-tier success was his Giro stage.<\/p>\n
Still, for a 21-year-old in his first full season among the elite, Del Toro\u2019s consistency was astonishing. If Ayuso\u2019s transfer signals a reboot, Del Toro\u2019s rise could reshape UAE\u2019s hierarchy \u2014 and perhaps cycling\u2019s next era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Early fireworks Both riders exploded out of the blocks in March. Ayuso took wins at the Faun…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-247082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}