Juan Ayuso, white jersey again: “I am happy to be in the fight for the podium”

The cyclist from Xàbia Juan Ayusofourth overall Tour de Francewas very satisfied with his participation in the tenth stage and highlighted that the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar “he plays in another league” and that he is “happy” to be in the fight for the podium.

“It’s nice to have recovered the white jersey, I’m happy with my day. It has been difficult, because the UAE has done a great job, all its cyclists have had exceptional performance and have ridden at a high pace,” said the rider of the Lidl.

“But I’m glad that my partner Mattias Skjelmose and I have been able to finish off the best, with the contenders for the podium, and distance some rivals,” he added.

“Tadej is at another level, he runs a different race, but in the fight for the podium we are all very close,” he said.

“I have to give my all every day, there are five or six of us who are looking for the last two steps of the podium and the fight will be intense until Paris. We focus on ourselves, day by day. Skjelmose has done a good job today and we are satisfied,” he added.

Ayuso assured that he did not have enough strength to collaborate with the Dane Jonas Vingegaard in the pursuit of Pogacar.

“I was riding at 450 or 460 watts, just enough to follow his wheel. I would have loved to collaborate with him, but his pace was too high for me,” he acknowledged.