'Ridiculous': Ayuso scoffs at question on leadership hierarchy with Skjelmose
Juan Ayuso's mid-contract move last offseason from UAE Team Emirates-XRG to Lidl-Trek initially ruffled some feathers with his new team's own homegrown talent, Mattias Skjelmose. But at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Ayuso wasn't having it when a reporter asked if the race was settling the leadership issue.
"To be honest, these questions for me are ridiculous," a clearly annoyed Ayuso replied when asked if the race gave the pair answers on their cooperation and relative strength. "I mean, we're both teammates and we're both here to help each other and whoever is strongest will put out the result. I don't see any dilemma," he said.
The pair crossed the line together on stage 3's critical team time trial and sit fifth and sixth on GC, tied at 47 seconds behind leader Alex Baudin of EF Education-EasyPost and around 30 second behind other GC hopefuls like Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and the Netcompany-Ineos duo of Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley.
