Pidcock and Ayuso cannot escape transfer questions under Eiffel Tower: "That's why I'm mentally exhausted"

They finished 13th and 22nd, but not one journalist wanted to know after the men's Olympic road race how the lap in Paris had felt for Tom Pidcock and Juan Ayuso. The two have recently been in the spotlight following hefty transfer rumors, and both took the time to reflect on that after the finish.

Pidcock still has a contract with INEOS Grenadiers until the end of 2027. Still, the usually well-informed cycling journalist Daniel Benson suddenly wrote that the now two-time Olympic mountain biking champion might leave. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, the conversation quickly moved in that direction. "I didn't have that extra punch or feel like myself. I had to take it easy all week to refresh a bit, and mentally, I was exhausted after mountain biking and everything else."

So the 25-year-old Briton had read it as well, the stories that INEOS might allow his departure. Two WorldTour teams had reportedly said Pidcock would enter the transfer market. Is that why Pidcock was not at his best self in the road race on Saturday? "Yeah, that's why I'm mentally a little exhausted." In conversation with Benson, his business manager, Andrew McQuaid, did not attempt to dispel transfer rumors. "Long contracts can change. Tom has achieved everything agreed upon in his contract extension for 2022, but he has many more goals. We are in constant contact about what is best for him. If there comes a time when the goals of the team and Tom diverge, we will sit together as adults with INEOS."

Read more below the photo.

Tom Pidcock

Ayuso makes appeal to UAE Team Emirates

And then Ayuso, someone with a contract until the end of 2028 (!) at the UAE-Team Emirates, but the Spaniard also seems on the threshold of a departure. On the one hand, this would be because Ayuso gave up too quickly at the Tour de France due to a coronavirus infection. But also, his role as a reserve for the Vuelta a España does not seem to be going down well. After the Olympic road race, the Spanish climber once again said he would like to attend the Tour of Spain. "I could not cycle for three weeks due to the infection, so I was erupting with joy today. 22nd is nothing special, but I will cherish this experience. I thought I wouldn't finish, but I competed for a medal instead. That makes me proud," Ayuso told Spanish media.

"Now I want to do the Vuelta, so I must talk to the team. I struggled after the Tour de France, but I would like to start in Lisbon if my body responds well and improves." We heard you loud and clear.

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