Grand Tour contender Juan Ayuso has had a mixed start to life at Lidl-Trek this season, with a crash and illnesses ruling him out of several major goals in March and April. Now, the Spaniard looks set to remain out of action until June.
Ayuso switched to Lidl over the winter after leaving UAE Team Emirates-XRG. He started this season well, adding the Volta ao Algarve to his palmarès along with a stage win on the final mountain day.
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A comeback at the Ardennes Classics and bid at Liège-Bastogne-Liège was ruled out after he fell ill with a viral infection following Itzulia.
Now, Spanish newspaper AS reports that the 23-year-old won’t return to racing before June’s Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which figures to be his main preparation for the Tour de France.
The race, formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné, runs from June 7-14, meaning Ayuso will have been away from competition for two months before returning to the peloton.
AS reports that Ayuso is back to training normally following his most recent illness, though he and his team did not consider adding any further races to his calendar before the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
However, other Tour favourites Tadej Pogačar (racing the Tour de Suisse), Jonas Vingegaard (racing the Giro d’Italia this month), and Remco Evenepoel (skipping racing in June altogether) won’t be lining up in France.
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