The 21-year-old Mexican featured in front of the peloton late in that race, did not crash and seemed to be in fine form. But he has apparently been shut down for the rest of the year, while the 22-year-old Ayuso has a full dance card. What’s going on?
Cycling fans will remember the controversy the two riders stirred in the Giro when del Toro, ostensibly riding in support of Ayuso, proved to be the better rider or was in better form than the Spaniard and UAE seemed wary of choosing a team leader until late in the race, when they finally chose del Toro. Any bad blood between the two riders, real or imagined, was washed away when Ayuso dropped out of the race on stage 18 after the last of several crashes he suffered in the race. At that point, del Toro led the Giro by 41 seconds, but Visma played a version of Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope on stage, 20 and Simon Yates ended up winning the race with the help of Wout van Aert.
Ayuso’s future?
So what’s the story? What’s behind Ayuso’s full schedule and del Toro sitting out the rest of the year? UAE hasn’t said a thing, and no rumours have floated through the peloton and beyond, so what follows is pure speculation and not to be taken for gospel.
First of all, in the World and European championships, Ayuso will be riding for Spain, not the team. But I can’t imagine that he’d be riding those races without the blessing of his team. In addition, team leader Tadej Pogačar will be riding in both races, so it’s possible – and allowed – that the Spaniard will be supporting his omnivorous Slovenian teammate to win both races.
In addition, Ayuso seems to be slated to support João Almeida in the Vuelta and Pogačar in Il Lombardia. With the great domestique Rafal Majka retiring at the end of this year, could UAE be grooming Ayuso to replace him? Yes, they could. They may have decided that he would be more valuable to the team as a domestique in the Grand Tours than as a pure GC rider.
Pogačar’s future?
But what about the plans they have for del Toro? That’s a bit more complex and involves Pogačar. Pogi had a tense and exhausting Tour de France. Yes, he won, but he could never really shake Jonas Vingegaard and had to deal with a lot of pressure from his Visma–Lease a Bike team. He was cranky and hostile, criticising Visma for the way they rode, getting into a pushing match with Matteo Jorgenson and appearing to get his team to prevent Visma from winning a single stage. That worked for 20 stages, but Wout van Aert blew Pogi away on the final stage and added to his own legend by a riding to a victory for the ages in a setting – Montmartre – of the ages. A day after the race, Pogačar told French publication L’Equipe that he is already thinking about his retirement, perhaps as early as 2028.
“I don’t think I’ll stop right away, but I also don’t see myself continuing too long,” he said. “The Los Angeles Olympics [in 2028] are a goal of mine – that’s three years away. So I might start thinking about retirement after that.”
He went on to say that riding in the Tour is not much fun for him. “The Tour is the biggest cycling race in the world. But it also causes a lot of stress for riders,” he said. “I’d like to skip it one year to try other races, but I know that’s hard to do. So yes, you’ll see me at the start of the Tour next year to defend my title – very likely.” That “very likely” must have set off alarm bells in the UAE camp. He could have said “of course I’ll be back” or “absolutely,” but he chose to qualify with “very likely,” which means “there’s a chance I won’t be back.”
And even if he rides in the Tour next year, which he absolutely will, if he wins and wins again in 2027, he will have a record six Tour wins. With the Olympics the following year, he very likely could decide not to ride the Tour again. Then UAE would have to find another rider to keep the team in clover.
Del Toro’s future?
They’re not looking far because they know they won’t find a better rider to be the “new Pogačar” than del Toro. He can absolutely win a Grand Tour, which he demonstrated in the Giro before suffering a brain freeze. And I think that in a year or two, he’ll be able to beat Vingegaard and Evenepoel in the Tour. He’s only 21 years old and will only get better. Barring serious injury or illness, he will be the best rider in the peloton after Pogačar retires. He’s got the same easy smoothness and confidence on a bike as his team leader. He just needs some more explosiveness and racing wisdom.
That’s why I think the team decided to shut him down, anoint him team-leader-in-waiting, and start preparing him to win Grand Tours, starting with the Giro next year – to give him a chance at redemption in that race and to build up his self-confidence. I need to repeat that this is all pure speculation. But if it turns out to be true, remember where you heard it first.
