Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) has expressed remorse over what he believes was a miscalculated assault on the slopes of the Grand Colombier that price him the stage 7 victory at Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on Saturday.
The Spaniard attacked 6.7km from the highest of the ultimate ascent, however was caught after which distanced by eventual stage winner Isaac del Toro (UAE Staff Emirates-XRG), leaving Ayuso to accept second place 24 seconds behind.
„I am dissatisfied. I believe I went too far out, too early, and I threw away the win. My teammates deserved it in the present day,“ Auyso stated in a post-race interview.
The 133.6km race that began in La Bridoire and completed on the high of the Grand Colombier was one other difficult affair for the peloton, starting with {a partially} neutralised descent off the category-2 Côte de Saint-Maurice-de-Rotherens to keep away from potential crashes on the gravel sections.
The race resumed on the 30-kilometre mark, roughly the spot the place Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) crashed and located himself 4 minutes down and in an enormous chase to reconnect together with his rivals earlier than the ultimate ascent.
Chances are you’ll like
„It was a very laborious day. The organisers did a great job in neutralising; it was fairly harmful, so we have now to reward them for interested by us as a result of for certain there would have been crashes if not,“ Ayuso stated.
Though 10 riders fashioned a breakaway, together with Ayuso’s teammate and stage 4 winner Quinn Simmons, he defined that groups Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Staff Emirates-XRG maintained a gradual tempo to handle the time hole.
As soon as caught, Simmons remained on the entrance of what was left of the sector together with his Lidl-Trek squad, establishing Auyso and Mattias Skjelmose for the ultimate two climbs over the Col de Richemond and into the bottom of the Grand Colombier.
Skjelmose appeared to wrestle with the tempo on the decrease slopes of the ultimate ascent, whereas Ayuso made his preliminary assault 6.7km from the highest.
Requested why he selected that second to surge, he stated, „It was silly. There, the tempo was not tremendous laborious; it was the toughest [steepest] half, and I assumed that if I stayed on the wheel, I wasn’t going to avoid wasting a lot. On the finish, you do. I believe I simply threw away the victory.“
What to learn subsequent
Behind Ayuso, and with 4.5km remaining, Del Toro leaped out of a choose chase group that included Matteo Jorgenson and Ben Tullet (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar).
General chief Luke Tuckwell (Crimson Bull-Bora -Hansgrohe) and Seixas, who briefly regained contact, struggled to stick with the group.
Del Toro ultimately made the catch with 1.7km to go, after which surged once more on his technique to the stage 7 victory, and Ayuso with nothing left in response.
„It is laborious as a result of I did have the legs in the present day,“ Ayuso stated. „My staff rode amazingly, put me the place I needed to be and managed all day.“
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for limitless entry to our Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Tour de Suisse protection. Do not miss any of the breaking information, race evaluation, and professional perception because the riders make their last preparations for Le Tour. Plus, entry the Cyclingnews app to comply with the motion on the go!
