Rest day with Ayuso, Almeida and Yates: "We're having fun together"

The teams spent the first rest day of the Tour de France in Orléans. I was welcomed at the hotel of UAE Team Emirates, where I waited with the rider cards of Adam Yates, João Almeida, and Juan Ayuso until they returned from their training ride.

In the meantime, I noticed a relaxed atmosphere in the camp of UAE, set up in the parking lot. The chefs were preparing lunch, and the mechanics were cleaning the dusty bikes after yesterday's gravel ride, while there was some joking around in (mostly) Italian with each other - and with me, asking if I could bring their cards next time. It’s impressive to be reminded up close that behind the famous cyclists we all see on TV, there is a massive (mostly hidden) team ensuring that the eight men on the bikes can perform at their very best.

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Update after stage 13: Ayuso has unfortunately dropped out because of sickness.

Ayuso

Juan Ayuso was the first to return to the hotel and cast an approving glance at the rider cards. “Looks good! 59 in sprint though? I think I'm faster than Adam Yates (64). So, Adam, let's do a sprint!” the Spaniard joked. When I asked about Ayuso’s form after his crash in the Dauphiné, he replied, “It's always frustrating not to finish a race. My preparation for the Tour wasn’t ideal because of that, but I came to the Tour at my desired level. I’m looking forward to the high mountains.”

Ayuso was clear about his role in the mountains as one of the pillars supporting Tadej Pogacar (whom I spoke to earlier this year about his rider card), but he also hinted at keeping some personal ambitions in mind. “Only if the team allows it. Who knows, maybe a stage win is possible. And it would be nice to follow in Tadej’s footsteps in the youth classification after he won the white jersey the past four years, but Remco Evenepoel is a tough rival. The Tour is still long.”

Almeida

Meanwhile, João Almeida – the calmest of the bunch – also returned from his ride. “The cobblestone score is quite low, but that’s not where my ambitions lie, so we’ll leave it as it is. Otherwise, it looks good.” Regarding his classification, the Portuguese rider said with a smile, “It depends on how much work Tadej wants me to do. My position in the GC is secondary to the team’s interests, but it would be nice if I could maintain this 91. I understand that all this is based on results? I love data, so I’ll keep an eye on the developments.”

Ayuso and Almeida took their cards onto the team bus. Finally, Nils Politt, Pavel Sivakov, Tim Wellens, Marc Soler, Adam Yates, and Tadej Pogacar returned to the hotel as well. Adam went to clean his white shoes before he elaborately took his time to analyze his rider card.

Yates

I asked Yates about his (flat) time trial in the first week. “I’m actually quite pleased with it. If you weigh around 58 kilos like me, these aren’t easy rides. The time trial in Nice suits me better in that regard. Let’s see if I can improve my score of 76 there.” According to the Brit, there’s no room for improvement in the sprint score as long as we don’t categorize that skill by weight class. “You know, like in boxing and the UFC. It’s not fair that I compete against guys like Philipsen and Groenewegen, who weigh about fifteen kilos more!”

When I shared my observation of the relaxed atmosphere at UAE Team Emirates with Yates, he agreed with a laugh, “The team spirit is good. We’re here with one goal. Of course, it’s hard work, and there are stressful stages, but this is a group of good guys. We get along well. If you can have fun with each other outside the stages, that’s a bonus.”

And it shows, because when Yates shared his CyclingOracle rider card in his Instagram story a day later, the keen observer noticed that it had been manually altered. The 29 on the cobblestones – which Yates had jokingly expressed disappointment over – had been turned into an 89 with a marker. To prove that score, we look forward to seeing Adam Yates at the start of the cobblestone classics next season. 😉

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