John Ayuso: "I take pressure as motivation"

At just 19 years old, the name of Juan Ayuso (Barcelona, ​​2002) appears underlined on all the lists predicting the next Spanish talent called to stand in the world squad, a pressure that the UAE Team Emirates cyclist perceives as a “motivation” to continue his development.

A year after jumping on a UCI World Tour team, the same of which Tadej Pogacar, winner of the last two editions of the Tour de France, was a member, the young runner reviewed in a telematic interview with EFE his sensation in the world’s first cycling division and future plans.

In a course where Other than the surprise at Vuelta a España, he won’t start in any of the three great races on the calendarAyuso admits that he is still in the process of figuring out what kind of cyclist he will be, although he naturally accepts his talent.

“Once I’ve done something I’ve been good on all sides, but I still need to run more, explore myself, find out my strengths and weaknesses.”, pointed out the UAE team cyclist, emphasizing that the terrain where he is comfortable is on the climb.

Meanwhile, he is honing his talent in the ranks of one of the most powerful squads in the platoon. And he does it by sharing kilometers with the world’s great cycling figure.

Tadej Pogacar is for the Spanish cyclist “a role model” in his daily. “What I would highlight about him is, first, his normality. At the table, a superstar like him is the same as everyone else and they’re both joking. Plus, his calmness. Nothing stresses him out at all; not even what happens., everything It’s fine. It’s something I learned too, “he reveals.

And he pointed out what the 23-year-old Slovenian talent brought to professional cycling: “Chris Froome and his generations are benchmarks, but I think he (Pogacar) is more because he was able to win as a youth.. Obviously, he’s from another planet, but if he achieves it, it gives you the illusion and motivation to think that you can too. “

In this sense, he believes that the emergence of young people competing for the three -week grand tour, such as Pogacar himself or the Colombian Egan Bernal at the time, is further proof that professionalization also extends to lower categories. .

“Since I am a cadet, I have an electricity meter (…) When I was young, I had a coach, who is now in the UAE, and I started as a nutritionist. I think the working methods are already applied to the lower categories and the kids who want to devote themselves to it are mostly professionals. That will inevitably speed up all the steps, ”he contemplates.

It is not surprising, then, that analysts at Ayuso, the winner of the Giro sub-23 in 2021, see one of the cyclists who could set the speed of the large group sooner than the latter.

“I treated everything as motivation. Every career I go to, I get a lot of support. A lot of people want to see me perform, a lot of people make me happy on the road. Over the pressure, I’m grateful, and it’s something that motivates me to train better, take care of myself and be a better cyclist ”, he argues about the expectations formed around his figure. .

After the first phase of the course marked by three inappropriate diseases -the latter in Dauphiné- which slowed his development, Ayuso is confident that his defenses will respect him in the second half of the year where he will soon run Ordizia and San Sebastián classics, as well as the Getxo Circuit.

All this is to accumulate kilometers for the 2023 course, when his debut in a three-week career is scheduled. “We planned a calendar similar to today, but running a little bit into races. This year we saw that I trained a lot, I got sick, and all the work was useless. We wanted to link more races “When I’m big, I don’t know which one I’ll do, but I’m sure next year I’ll be with you,” he concluded.