Nearly two months to the day after he abandoned the Itzulia Basque Country due to sickness, Juan Ayuso returns to racing at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes this Sunday with his sights set firmly on the fast-approaching Tour de France.
The 23-year-old Spaniard has spent three weeks training in Sierra Nevada and will now head the Lidl-Trek team's GC aspirations both in the week-long stage race and again in the Tour. In both events, he's widely seen as Spain's biggest hope of success on the GC front.
After a tumultuous exit from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Ayuso won the Volta ao Algarve in February, his first race with Lidl-Trek. But then his season went badly askew when he had to abandon Paris-Nice whilst leading the race and then fell ill in Itzulia, which he won overall back in 2024.
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This summer, though, Ayuso is back on track, and as he told the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes organisers in an interview published on their website, he is "really looking forward to pinning on a number again."
"The focus has really shifted towards July, and this race marks the start of our final preparations towards that big goal, including the chance to race up Plateau de Solaison as we will do again in the Grande Boucle," he said.
"My 2026 season has been a mix, as I got some good results and then suffered because of crashes and illnesses. These couple of months without racing have given me the opportunity to really reset."
For Lidl-Trek, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes isn't just about Ayuso's return to racing. The whole squad will also be using the race's stage 4 28.4km team time trial in Perreux as a final live try-out for the equivalent 19km TTT in the Tour de France.
"Getting another opportunity to race a TTT before July will be important as we know that the opening [Tour] TTT in Barcelona will be key for anyone targeting the GC, and I think as a team we have a strong chance of being there fighting for the stage win as well," Ayuso explained
"It has been a key focus for the team too in terms of training, so it will be good to get another in-race experience before July."
Even in the absence of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), racing the Tour de Suisse this June instead of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and Giro d'italia winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) from this Sunday onwards, Ayuso will face some key names for the upcoming Tour de France.
These include Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Ayuso's former teammate at UAE, Isaac Del Toro.
"It’s not going to be an easy race," Ayuso recognised. "There is some tough competition, so I’m sure it will be an exciting race for people to watch. I hope to be a key animator for the GC battle."
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