Beaten by Vingegaard, but Ayuso praises Danish rival: "He definitely has what it takes"

“I think it was a tricky day because it was full throttle on the final climb,” Ayuso analyzed afterwards in the mixed zone. “It was the first small test, and I passed it. I hope I can continue to improve every day towards the first real tests,” said the Spaniard, referring to, for example, stage six, starting next Thursday. Then there will be another mountain finish in Andorra.

Vingegaard won on Sunday, which Ayuso had seen coming. “He was the favorite today, and he proved why. Ciccone was also one of the favorites, and he proved why, too.” Still, the Spaniard is not worried about what is to come. “I think the stages for me and João are yet to come. We haven't really started yet.”

Despite the competition with Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike, the 22-year-old rider had kind words for the Dane's explosiveness. “You saw in the Tour how he can respond to Tadej (Pogacar, ed.), the best rider in the world. He definitely has what it takes. I was still a little unsure because of the crash, because you never know if that will have an effect or not. He showed today that it didn't.”

Whether Visma | Lease a Bike is now 1-0 ahead or not, Ayuso is keeping his cool. “I think it's too early to draw conclusions. It's good to get back into the rhythm of racing, and we have to keep training for the coming days,” said the new leader of the youth classification.

Almeida performed slightly better than his teammate and finished fifth. The Portuguese rider also does not want to draw any conclusions from this. “It was quite a chaotic day, with rain in the final. There were crashes, and people were nervous. We managed to stay safe and in a good position. Then, Juan went full throttle, and Marc (Soler, ed.) also tried at the end. I think we did well, but the others were just stronger,” he said honestly.

Although Monday's stage looks fairly straightforward on paper, Almeida is already cautious. The third stage, the last on Italian soil, looks set to be a sprint finish for the strong sprinters, although the final climb is still quite nasty. “Tomorrow's finale is quite tricky, so we'll have to be careful. We'll really have to be careful with all the riders. We know how important that is now, so it's going to be very hectic tomorrow,” said the Portuguese rider.