“If we’ve hired him, it’s because we have in our mind that he can be competitive in Grand Tours,” Lidl-Trek manager Luca Guercilena tells Rouleur. “But he needs time and a process to develop.” Guercilena, of course, is talking about Juan Ayuso, the young Spaniard who Lidl-Trek have just splashed big money on – up to €10m according to some reports just to get him out of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and then a commitment to pay him around €3m a year for the next five years. Those figures indicate a lot of trust, belief and hope has been placed in the 23-year-old’s capabilities and potential, as a team traditionally known as being a Classics and sprinting powerhouse evolve to try and keep up with UAE and Visma-Lease a Bike when it comes to general classification battles.
But Lidl-Trek, especially their management, are preaching patience and pragmatism: Ayuso has all the qualities required to win Grand Tours, but he’s got a way to go to leapfrog rivals currently standing in his path. This is not a money-guarantees-success quick hit. “To be very clear, we’re talking about two really strong riders in Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard being in front of him, and you can maybe add [Remco] Evenepoel and [Isaac] Del Toro in front of him, too,” Guercilena continues. “With us, we hope he can develop more as a leader and not as a helper and that we can give him the right support to reach his goals, but he needs time.”
Such a statement shouldn’t be cast as a slight on Ayuso’s prospects or even as pessimism, but more of a realistic assessment of where Ayuso currently stands. He finished on the podium of his debut Vuelta a España in 2022 aged 19, and finished fourth the year later, but since then his Grand Tour form has been patchy and dominated by setbacks: a withdrawal from his maiden Tour de France after apparently falling out with Pogačar; a stage win at this May’s Giro d’Italia but then a late abandonment; and two stage wins at the most recent Vuelta, but a sub-par show on GC. Consistency is certainly something he needs to refine and improve.
Ayuso was looking good at this year's Giro, until a bee sting saw him abandon. Image: Zac Williams/SWPix.com.
So, too, if reports are believed, his communication with his teammates. He may no longer have Pogačar ahead of him in his team’s pecking order, but he will have to share leadership duties with Mads Pedersen and Jonathan Milan, as well as other GC players who Lidl have at their disposal. Unlike what Pogačar can expect, Ayuso is not going to have seven riders fully dedicated to his service. “I’ve read a lot, and it’s not a secret that there were some discussions in his current team, but I’m not focusing on that – I’m focusing more on building his relationship in our team, where our team spirit is very clear. We will be able to integrate him into the working system we have,” Guercilena insists.
Indeed, a potential flash point has already arisen, with Mattias Skjelmose, Lidl’s main GC hope in the past few years, casting doubt on Ayuso’s willingness to work for others. “I don’t know how it will work as we have the same goals,” the Dane said at the recent World Championships. “If he has some difficulty helping Tadej, then I don’t know if he will want to help me in any way if it comes to that.”
Guercilena’s impressions of Ayuso, mainly sourced from the various meetings the pair have had in the past few months when an exit from UAE began to look possible, is of a determined, committed rider. A winner, one might say. “I think he’s a really straight guy, someone who knows what he wants, and he has a clear mindset of how he wants to reach his goals,” Guercilena says. “Also, I have to admit, he appears to be very open to suggestions and new ideas, and recognising what could have been his mistakes in the past. He is making some steps in the right direction to slowly get better at that.”
Ayuso finished eighth at the Rwanda World Championships. Image by: Chris Auld/SWPix.com.
Skjelmose might feel aggrieved at Ayuso’s arrival, believing that the Spaniard is about to assume control of leadership spots he believed were promised to him, but Guercilena insists that there is a plan for each of the team’s main riders: Pedersen will carry on winning everywhere he goes; Milan will continue his sprint battle with Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen; and the climbers and GC riders will each find their own role. “[Giulio] Ciccone has made a clear statement this year especially of how tough it is to go for GC and he’s now focusing on hunting stages and one day races,” Guercilena explains. “Mattias can still develop a little as a GC rider, and we also have the support of Tao Geoghegan Hart.”
Geoghegan Hart, the forgotten man. Two years ago, the Briton was heralded as Lidl’s future GC star, signed from Ineos Grenadiers on a big contract to lead them at the Tour de France. But the 2020 Giro d’Italia winner has struggled to regain the form he had prior to breaking his femur at the 2023 Giro, and heading into the final year of his contract with the team, the expectations on him have been downgraded. “Tao is coming from a very difficult period, and we need to have him back on his best level. If he can do that, he can be very useful for the team,” Guercilena continues. “He has the experience and knows how to win a Grand Tour. After two hard seasons, it’s complicated to immediately get back to a top level, but his experience can be very useful to all the guys to move forward and turn the team in the direction of being better prepared for GCs.”
Ayuso, it is hoped, is the man who will do that for them. “I still believe Visma and UAE have an advantage – they have been working for many years in the GC direction and we know that we’re better known for the Classics and the sprints,” Guercilena acknowledges. “But if we want to evolve and be stronger and be competitive with those teams, we need to add more GC guys to our squad. We were missing a top guy, like UAE and Visma have, but Juan appeared on the market and we’ve reinforced our GC department.” Just don’t expect immediate success.
Cover image: Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com
