Few riders were so much in demand for interviews at the Volta a Catalunya start on Monday as Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), whose brilliant early start to the 2025 season in France and Italy has caused a major spike in expectations about his chances of possible stage racing success this week on home soil, too.
"There are some major rivals here but the Volta is one of the big goals of the season," the up-and-coming Spanish racer said before stage 1 got underway. "I haven't raced here for a long time, but I know that if I want to win, I'll need to be at my absolute best."
Ayuso's only previous ride in the Volta a Catalunya ended with fifth overall in 2022, but his notable result was all but eclipsed by the GC drama involving his teammate João Almeida. The Portuguese racer captured the Volta lead with a stunning victory in the Pyrenees, only to lose it less than 24 hours from the finish in Barcelona, when Almeida and the whole of UAE were ambushed by a two-up long-distance breakaway by rivals Richard Carapaz and final winner Sergio Higuita.
However, Ayuso has made considerable progress on his own account since then, and as Ayuso said in a lengthy interview with El Pais before the Volta, things could hardly be going better in 2025. Out of four races in 2025, he has three wins to date, including the Trofeo Laigueglia and most recently of all, Tirreno-Adriatico - and he'll now be looking for fresh success in Catalunya.
"When I train, I make sacrifices and I go through hard moments, I tell myself that I'm doing it to win. That's the motivation," Ayuso told the newspaper.
"This is the year where I've improved the most, not just because of the results, but also because of how I've got them. Now I have to consolidate, make sure this is my new level and it's not just for a short period of time.
"In 2023 I was injured and in 2024 I quit the Tour and never got back to my top level. This year, on the other hand, is going perfectly."
Asked if he now sees himself able to 'eat meals at the same table as Tadej Pogačar' - a poetic way of asking if he was now approaching the same level as his Slovenian teammate - Ayuso answered categorically and in the same poetic vein, "he dines alone".
"He could lose one race or another, but there's nobody out there like him, who's a favourite in every race he starts in, and who's able to win them all."
The winner last year at Catalunya, Pogačar is not racing here this March, meaning that just like in Tirreno-Adriatico, Ayuso has a chance to fight for his own chances. He came through the opening stage well, too, making it into the right side of a late split and picking up 15 seconds on several of his rivals as a result - though Roglič, too, did not lose time.
As for the Giro d'Italia, with the Spanish media already playing up his chances there against Roglič as well, Ayuso told El País, "People are really over-egging it".
"For me it's not like that. It's not as decisive for my career or my future.
"If I win it, it'll be another step forward, and if not, well, I'm 23 and there'll be plenty of other opportunities to do so. The most normal outcome would be that I don't win it."
