The final result doesn’t lie: Juan Ayuso was beaten fairly at the Volta a Catalunya, Primož Roglič staging a final day siege to deny the Spaniard a second consecutive WorldTour stage race victory. But put aside Ayuso’s one bad day in the Catalan race, and one thing is obvious: the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man is growing into the superstar he’s always promised he would be. 

After finishing third aged 19 at his debut Grand Tour, the 2022 Vuelta a España, Ayuso has been one of cycling’s most-hyped riders, and a smattering of victories – time trials, one-day successes and the occasional win in the mountains – has only reinforced his credentials. Yet in the shadow of Tadej Pogačar, and to a lesser extent João Almeida, Ayuso’s trajectory in the past two seasons hasn’t been as steep as what was once predicted. A DNF at the Tour de France last July, and an apparent but denied fallout with Pogačar added a cloud over his future, with XDS Astana cheekily trying to tempt him away from his contract that runs until 2028.

All that apparent discontent, however, seems a long way away now after a March that included two one-day victories, a stage and the GC at the Tirreno-Adriatico, and a stage and second overall at Catalunya. It’s a haul that can leave no one in any doubt that Ayuso has truly arrived on the biggest stage – and crucially he now appears ready to win a three-week race, perhaps even this May’s Giro d’Italia.

This article was published by Rouleur in April 2025. You can read the full article here.