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Follow us on GoogleFrom the outside, there wasn’t much to notice, but ahead of stage twelve in the Giro d’Italia, Juan Ayuso revealed more than expected about his current condition. The 22-year-old Spaniard crashed on day one without major consequences. His crash on stage nine seemed to be taken care of with a few stitches, but the reality appears more complicated. Speaking to several media outlets including IDLProCycling.com, Ayuso shared some eye-opening updates that his GC rivals will no doubt be paying attention to.
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Ayuso hit the deck on stage 9, when a group of favorites crashed on the first gravel sector heading toward Siena. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader was able to get going quickly and even gained time on key rival Primoz Roglic. Teammate Isaac Del Toro finished second that day and took over the pink jersey. On Monday’s rest day, Ayuso underwent a check-up, and the damage turned out to be more serious than initially thought. “The problem was that I landed on my knee and needed three stitches there. It’s very painful,” he admitted.
After a short recovery ride, Ayuso wasn’t too concerned about his time trial performance on Tuesday, and rightly so. Despite wet conditions, he put in a strong ride and closed the gap in the general classification to just 25 seconds behind Del Toro. When Egan Bernal lit things up a day later on the Giro’s first truly steep climb, both Ayuso and Del Toro followed without much visible trouble. Del Toro even grabbed bonus seconds at the line, rounding off what looked like another strong day for the UAE duo.
Read more below the photo.
Ayuso (left) and Del Toro (right) are 1 and 2 in the Giro
Ayuso proves to be the perfect teammate for Del Toro
While there’s been plenty of talk about a possible internal rivalry, Ayuso showed in stage 12 that he’s fully committed to supporting Isaac Del Toro. “I launched with 400 meters to go because both Isaac and I were well positioned. When the pace dropped, I knew I had to do something or Isaac would get swamped. At 200 meters, a lot of riders came past me, but it meant Isaac was in the perfect spot to take second.”
Del Toro did just that, extending his GC lead over Ayuso to 31 seconds. No issue at all, according to the Spaniard, who had already been thinking about his teammate earlier in the stage when Richard Carapaz launched an attack. “When Isaac went after Carapaz, I chose to ride my own pace. I didn’t want to bring him back, and if it came back together anyway, at least I wouldn’t have wasted energy by responding. That turned out to be a good decision.”
Read more below the photo.
Ayuso struggling with pain from stitched knee
His position heading into the final week is solid, but on Thursday Ayuso was brutally honest about how he’s been feeling lately. “I felt good on the steep climb Wednesday, although I did suffer more toward the end. My knee is quite painful, so I’m hoping Thursday and Friday will be a bit easier so I can recover better. It’s not ideal. I had three stitches in my knee, but they came loose during the time trial.”
That had consequences. While Ayuso rode the time trial without any bandage, his knee was more heavily wrapped on Wednesday. “It has started to swell again and it’s pretty painful. Walking hurts more than cycling, but I definitely feel it on the bike too,” said the UAE leader. Still, he’s not complaining. “The atmosphere in the team is really great. We’re in a perfect position. On Wednesday, we had all eight riders in the peloton on the steep climb for a long time, which really showed the strength of our team. We’re happy with how things are going and hope to keep it that way.”
Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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Latest Comments
- Eight riders told to go for stages, and nobody gets one—hard to know what the plan was there. It’ll be interesting to see whether they pick a clear leader next time.bikebuffj10-11-2026
- Was Bernal’s 20th place really their best GC result? I thought he might have finished higher. Either way, it sounds like a rough Tour for the whole team.gearguru3310-11-2026
- Five days in breaks with no stage win is a painful stat. The team had chances, but they need to turn those opportunities into results.julien10-11-2026
- The Onley Vuelta example makes sense: a team with someone to rally around often looks much more cohesive. Hopefully INEOS can build on that rather than expecting a quick return to the Sky years.cadencekingm10-11-2026
- Thomas is right about the ambiguity. Eight riders all chasing stages can end up pulling in different directions, even if nobody’s deliberately working against anyone. They need a clearer plan once the GC leaders are out.robert6510-11-2026
- What a mess. The report makes it sound as though nobody properly explained the decision, and that’s hard to defend.jennifer1910-11-2026
- I’m still learning the rules: does moving left in a sprint automatically bring a penalty, or does it depend on whether the other rider is blocked? It sounds like Brand wasn’t impeded here.patriciaw10-11-2026
- A final decision still needs a proper explanation. If the federation’s complaint goes nowhere, I hope the officials at least review how they handled the riders afterwards.michael5410-11-2026
- Fair play to Lucinda for saying Marie had won fair and square. That kind of sportsmanship matters, especially after such a controversial decision.raceready710-11-2026
- Schreiber beat Brand on the road, so the jury needed to explain clearly why that slight deviation warranted relegation. Being cut off before she could give her account sounds appalling.lindae10-11-2026