The Ayuso mystery: "Performances not up to par"

It was supposed to be a breakthrough year, but it's become a headache. After a brilliant debut with Lidl-Trek , 24-year-old Juan Ayuso had a 2026 season that fell well short of expectations, and now the team is scrutinizing every detail to be in top form in 2027.

After four seasons with UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the Spaniard's move to the American team was one of the market's biggest successes last year, with the prospect of him fighting for podiums in the Grand Tours. A victory in the overall standings at the Volta ao Algarve in February seemed like the perfect prelude, but from then on, the results gradually declined.

A fall forced him to retire from Paris-Nice , then he didn't even finish the Tour of the Basque Country : tests revealed a viral infection that kept him out of the Ardennes Classics in April.

Hopes were rekindled with third place overall in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly the Critérium du Dauphiné), achieved after two second-place finishes in the mountain stages. Seventh place in the Tour de France , however, was a bitter pill to swallow compared to his initial ambitions.

The end of the season did not change the script: retirement due to a fall at the GP Cycliste de Montréal and only one top 10 in all the subsequent races, sixth place in the general classification of the Tour of Guangxi , the last race of his calendar.

A story that leaves even those who know him best perplexed. His coach, Aritz Arberas , speaking to Spanish journalist Daniel Arribas's Substack, didn't hide his concern: "He's the first to know the year hasn't gone well. Something's clearly wrong, because what we're seeing isn't normal. The verifiable training data doesn't add up. The sessions went well, Juan sacrificed a lot and invested heavily to be at his best, with periods at altitude and specific preparation for the World Championships, but then comes the race and things don't work out. His performances aren't what you'd expect from a runner of his caliber."

Arberas also describes the human side of the story: "It's sad, of course. He's an ambitious guy and works incredibly hard. When we talk after the races, he asks me, 'Aritz, what do you think? What's going on?' And I tell him I don't know, that we don't have the answer."

The team is now in the midst of a thorough analysis: "We're looking at everything, from health, including possible medical issues, to training data," the coach explained.

Meanwhile, Lidl-Trek has made a decisive move on the transfer market, landing a series of signings, including general classification runner Felix Gall , arriving from Decathlon-CMA CGM after a season that ended with a second place at the Giro d'Italia and third at the Vuelta a España. Despite the Austrian's arrival, Arberas says expectations for Ayuso remain unchanged.

"Juan's goals for 2027 must be the same as those for 2026: to compete in a Grand Tour, one-day classics, and week-long stage races, as he has done in recent years as a professional. He's a top rider, someone from whom victories are expected, and he knows it full well," added the coach.