Ayuso skips the Vuelta: focus on the classics and the World Championships

After a less-than-exciting Tour de France, Juan Ayuso is refocusing the second half of his season, focusing heavily on road races. The Lidl-Trek co-leader, as announced earlier this year, will sit out his home race, the Vuelta a España, and will focus his energies on a packed schedule that begins with the Canadian WorldTour Classics and heads straight for the World Championships, also in North America.

According to Spanish newspaper AS , Ayuso's absence from the Vuelta will still be a source of controversy. The Spaniard, one of the most dynamic and unpredictable riders in the current peloton, surprised everyone in 2022 by finishing third in his first Vuelta at just 19 years old, becoming the youngest person to reach a podium in this race and the second-youngest in the history of all Grand Tours.

Since then, Ayuso's Vuelta journey has been a crescendo of emotions: fourth place in 2023, then two stage victories in 2024, a season marked, however, by the notorious controversy surrounding his departure from UAE Team Emirates at the end of the season, with tones that the rider himself described as almost "dictator-like" regarding the team's handling of the news.

This year, instead of returning to the Vuelta a la Vuelta for the fourth time, and after a Tour de France where he significantly declined in the second week, finishing seventh in the general classification, Ayuso will turn to the roads of Quebec. The schedule includes the GP of Quebec on September 11th and the GP of Montreal on September 13th, two WorldTour events that represent intriguing terrain for those who enjoy sustained efforts and high-tempo breakaways.

After the Canadian stage, Ayuso's plans include staying overseas for the World Championships, where—if he's called up to the Spanish team, a highly likely outcome—he'll aim to improve on the eighth-place finish he achieved in 2025 and the twenty-sixth place he achieved in 2024 in the road race. It's an ambitious goal, but one within his reach, especially if the route rewards pure attackers.

The return to Europe is then expected in time for the UEC European Road Championships in Slovenia, scheduled for October 4, once again wearing the Spanish national team jersey.

The grand finale of Ayuso's program leads straight to Il Lombardia, scheduled for October 10th.

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