The Spaniard finishes second on the final stage to secure a place on the overall podium, wrapping up a strong week in France
As the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes comes to a close, the Team leave with plenty to be proud of. Quinn Simmons delivered a memorable stage victory from the breakaway on Stage 4, while Juan Ayuso capped off a strong week in the mountains with back-to-back second-place finishes and third overall in the general classification.
With the overall classification still on the line this morning, the Team took control of the race from the very beginning of the stage. Determined to keep the pressure on and create opportunities for Juan and Mattias in the GC battle, the team set a relentless pace at the head of the peloton throughout the day, steadily reducing the field.
As the final climb intensified, Isaac del Toro of UAE XRG launched his winning move and managed to establish a gap. Refusing to settle for the battle behind, Ayuso immediately left the yellow jersey group in pursuit, after Skjelmose’s hard work had positioned him perfectly for the finale.
With confidence high and momentum building, the Team can take encouragement from a productive week and now turn our focus to being back here in July.
From Juan
I'm just really proud of the team and how they rode, they deserve a win.
We couldn't go to stage win and I think finishing on the podium here, I could more or less be happy. I'm super proud of how the team rode and I'm going to keep that with me.
And yeah, as I said, the road here was not super easy. Preparation was a bit more difficult than what I would have hoped for. So finishing on the podium and feeling like every day I improved and every day I was getting better. Mattias rode an amazing today for me, and I really tried to use, you know, all the force of the team to my advantage. They did a great job sacrificing themselves for me.
(Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
