{"id":536701,"date":"2026-04-17T22:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/536701\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T22:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:21:14","slug":"cycling-has-changed-a-lot-its-become-far-more-universal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/536701\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling has changed a lot; it\u2019s become far more universal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe actually started the year very well by winning the Algarve, and then at Paris\u2013Nice he crashed while in the lead, set to face Vingegaard, which would have been a good test for future goals. At Itzulia he was ill, not fully recovered\u2026 It\u2019s been up and down,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>The Segovian also pointed to pressure as one of the main challenges for Spain\u2019s young star: \u201cI think he puts a lot of pressure on himself, and sometimes when he sees he\u2019s not meeting the projected expectations he turns it inwards, which doesn\u2019t help him process that adversity more calmly. But of course, everyone has a character that\u2019s hard to negotiate with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even so, Delgado was upbeat about Ayuso\u2019s trajectory and confident he will reach his peak with time.<\/p>\n<p>A Spanish cycling scene in transition<\/p>\n<p>Beyond Ayuso, Delgado also assessed the current state of Spanish cycling, steering clear of overly negative takes. \u201cThe level isn\u2019t as buoyant as we could boast years ago, but it\u2019s not that bad either, there\u2019s no need to be defeatist,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>The former rider also recalled the historic generation that defined a golden era: \u201cWe had a period that started with me, then Miguel Indurain, \u00d3scar Pereiro, Carlos Sastre, Alejandro Valverde, Alberto Contador\u2026 We enjoyed a golden age of cycling, stringing together young generations roughly every ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, he also highlighted the sport\u2019s global evolution and rising international competition: \u201cCycling has changed a lot; it\u2019s become far more universal. Sport in general is much more globalized, and the Chinese haven\u2019t even arrived yet. When the Chinese come into cycling, who knows what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the same vein, he stressed how hard it is to stand out now: \u201cThere are Australians, Africans coming through\u2026 The competition is fierce, and there\u2019s a worldwide scouting of young talent who can emerge from anywhere. That means Spanish cycling isn\u2019t at a disadvantage per se, but the level of competition is much higher now than before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"280\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/juan-ayuso-69e1f40497bb7.jpg@webp.webp\" class=\"w-auto h-auto\" alt=\"Juan Ayuso, Lidl\u2013Trek star\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Juan Ayuso, Lidl\u2013Trek star<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; \u201cHe actually started the year very well by winning the Algarve, and then at Paris\u2013Nice he crashed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,53652,109119,109976,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-536701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-juan-ayuso","10":"tag-lidl-trek","11":"tag-pedro-delgado","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536701","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=536701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}