Juan Ayuso praises new team Lidl-Trek: "The team truly deserved this win"
Juan Ayuso had a stellar day on Sunday at the Volta ao Algarve. The Spaniard won the final stage and thereby secured the overall victory. "The team truly deserved this win," he said after the race in front of our camera.
"After Fóia, I was... not sad, but it did hurt to lose by such a small margin," Ayuso reflects on the second stage, where he narrowly lost to Paul Seixas. "I’m very happy that today I was able to give something back to the team with the stage win and overall victory after they had worked hard all day again."
Strong Lidl-Trek
What conclusions does Ayuso draw from his performance in the Volta ao Algarve? "The conclusions I take are more about how the team rode. How well protected I was—not just today, but the whole week. Today we showed again that we were the strongest team in the race," said the 23-year-old rider, who transferred last winter from UAE Emirates XRG to Lidl-Trek. The Volta ao Algarve was his first race with the German squad.
"Everyone saw how much they tried to put us under pressure, but our team still managed to control the race. We didn’t have constant control at all times, there were some moments, but we always managed to regain it. I ended up in a position to win and I’m very happy I could deliver this victory to them."
