'I blocked his Wahoo': Ayuso fails to deliver more than poorly-timed prank on unamused Ciccone, at European Championships

We can certainly describe Ayuso’s autumn season as a major disappointment. After showing great grit to finish seventh in the Tour de France for Lidl-Trek, he then took over a month to prepare for the World and European Championships.

He traveled to Canada early and performed well in the GP Québec, but a hard crash in the sprint forced him to withdraw from the GP Montréal two days later.

After a week of recovery, Ayuso didn’t do too badly at the World Championships, but he ran out of steam too early and could only manage a thirteenth-place finish. Like everyone else, the Spaniard had only a week to recover from the World Championships in Canada and the resulting jet lag, with the European Championships in Ljubljana on the schedule.

Ayuso was in high spirits in the mixed zone before the start of the European Championships. And that came with big ambitions.

“I think I’m ready for today and hope to put in a good performance and go for the win. There are a lot of strong riders at the start, so we have to ride our own race and make it as tough as possible.”

Actually, the European Championships went exactly as Ayuso and Spain had hoped, although it was Belgium and Italy with Remco Evenepoel and Giulio Ciccone, who made the race as tough as they could.

On the first climb of the Možjanca, Ayuso was already at the back of the peloton. The 24-year-old Spaniard was then forced to drop out during the second lap of the local circuit.

Ayuso didn't exactly make his mark on the European Championships, though he did have some influence on the mood of his Lidl-Trek teammate Ciccone before the start.

Just before his interview, Ayuso walked over to the Italian's bike and played a prank on him. “I blocked his Wahoo. I put a password on it so he can’t unlock it,” Ayuso laughed.

"During the neutral start, he should just come over to me for a moment to convince me to give him the code,": the Spaniard dismissed the prank.

Ciccone clearly wasn't amused when he was confronted with Ayuso's joke. “He put a code on my Wahoo that you need to turn it on. I have no idea how to use it now.”

In the end, Ciccone had the last laugh by finishing second at the European Championships. Or could he have sprinted just a millimetre faster if he hadn't been stressed out by Wahoo?