Juan Ayuso excels with new approach and smashes climbing record in Sierra Nevada

Juan Ayuso is already showing strong form in the lead-up to the new season. The 22-year-old Spaniard, who has set his sights on the 2025 Giro d'Italia, made a big impression in Sierra Nevada by completely shattering the record on the climb of El Purche in Monachil.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG climber clocked an impressive time of 19 minutes and 11 seconds, demolishing the previous record—held by Chris Harper (Team Jayco AlUla) and Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)—by a staggering 40 seconds. With an average speed of 19.5 km/h, Ayuso appears to be reaching peak form. He is right on track to compete with the world's best in the Giro. His strong climbing performance may well be the result of his revised training approach.

Ayuso reaps the rewards of new approach

For the rising star, 2024 was a year to forget. Despite 3.5 years in the WorldTour, he has “only” secured eight victories—something that feels underwhelming for a rider of his caliber. "I need to improve in all aspects, but right now, I’m mainly focusing on climbing. I see myself as a climber, but when I look at my wins, half of them were in time trials. That feels strange to me," he told us in an interview over the winter.

Ayuso adjusted his training and shifted his focus more towards climbing. "To close the gap to Tadej, Vingegaard, Roglic, and Evenepoel," he explained. "I’m going to change a lot in my preparation, and then we’ll see if it works or if I need to go back to basics," he added. The first signs are positive, and it looks like his new approach is paying off.

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Juan Ayuso

Ayuso fully committed to the 2025 Giro d'Italia

And rightly so, if Ayuso wants to get anywhere close to his own ambitions. "I want to become the best rider in the world. Right now, that’s Tadej, so you’ll probably write that I want to be better than him. But that’s not what I mean. I dream of one day being the absolute best, so I will have to become better than him. He’s not a rival, but he does set the standard," Ayuso explained.

Next weekend, Ayuso will kick off his new cycling season at the Faun-Ardèche Classic, followed a day later by the Faun Drôme Classic. After that, he will test himself against the best in Tirreno-Adriatico, where he finished second last year behind Jonas Vingegaard. The Volta a Catalunya is also likely on his schedule before he fully shifts his focus to his main goal of the year: the Giro d'Italia.

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