The young cyclist from Xàbia Juan Ayuso (UAE) will be the sole representative of Alicante at La Vuelta 2023.

The sprinter from Torrevieja was also aiming to take part in the tour of Spain. It was actually on his calendar, but at the last minute, Bugos was among the eight chosen by BiH.

Ayuso is one of the greatest excitements and hopes of Spanish cycling. He made his debut in the previous edition and premiere, and at the age of only 19 he managed to climb the podium after Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and Enric Mas (Movistar).

After starting a tough year that prevented him from starting the race until April due to physical problems on the sole of his foot, La Vuelta is coming to 2023 with enthusiasm and hopes to repeat the podium in 2022 and even contend for the championship. victory. Although he is aware that he will have a very difficult time with this year’s luxury participation.

“By proxy, I hope I can aspire to win. Obviously that would be for the best and it’s what I’ve always dreamed of and after last year’s podium it leads to dreams a little higher,” he said at the press conference yesterday, appearing as the leader of his team alongside Portuguese Joao Almeida.

But we realize that with teams like Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma or Remco Evenepoel’s Soudal-Quick Step, it’s “too complicated”, but that’s what we’ve trained and done to make it happen. Race for it,” he assured.

Regarding his earlier preparations, Ayuso admitted that he did not have an exact calculation of mileage: “I did, but I did two long-term high training sessions, three weeks before and two weeks after Clásica San Sebastián.”

“The preparation would have been almost perfect if I hadn’t had the two falls I’ve had. I did not experience any discomfort or illness,” he said.

Amid the physical and psychological problems he suffered at the end of last season and at the beginning of this season, “The months when you needed to be in good spirits, stay calm and see life beyond cycling became mentally strong,” he said. I am very.”

“If I put that into perspective now, almost everything will be less difficult than the difficulties I had to endure to get back on the bike.” said.