Paris–Nice leader Juan Ayuso warns: “Cold, rain and crosswinds — a bit of everything”

“I think it’s mainly the first feeling: disappointment that we didn’t win the stage,” Ayuso said after the finish. “We were really motivated this morning and we truly believed we could win. To come up two seconds short hurts, because the guys deserved that victory.”

With Mathias Vacek, Jakob Söderqvist, Toms Skujins, Lennard Kämna, Søren Kragh Andersen and Julien Bernard around him, Ayuso had a very strong line-up at his disposal. “I think we did a really good job. We worked hard over the winter and we also trained a lot together in the lead-up to this race.”

“I think we have really good chemistry, we knew exactly how to pace ourselves at every point on the course, especially on the climbs, and I think we handled the final section really well. The team gave me a fantastic lead-out,” Ayuso said, full of praise for his teammates. Those remarks closely match the English wording published by Lidl-Trek after the stage.

The Spaniard continues Paris–Nice with a small advantage over riders including Vauquelin, Onley and Jonas Vingegaard. “All things considered, those four seconds are a nice lead, but here in Paris–Nice things can change quickly,” he warned.

On Wednesday, just like sports director Steven de Jongh, he expects chaos on the way to Uchon, where the final kilometre ramps up to nearly thirteen percent.

“The weather is going to be pretty bad and I think it will be a very tough stage. After such a short and explosive effort, it’s hard to say how my legs compare to a long stage like tomorrow’s,” he said cautiously.

“It’s going to be cold, rainy, with crosswinds — a bit of everything. It’s a very different kind of effort, but overall I think my shape is good,” concluded the Paris–Nice leader.