After far exceeding expectations in the first week of the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Vuelta a España, for the second time this year and on the eve of the race’💯s crunch time trial, ultra-young GC contender Juan Ayuso found himself fighting fires again.

The 19-year-old rider revealed after the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:stage 10 time trial that he feared he had gone down with COVID-19, the cause of 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:multiple abandons among other teams since the Vuelta began, after he endured a rough night and🍨 only multiple testing proved he was wrong.

But while Ayuso’s time loss of 2:17 to stage winner Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl) in the time trial was anything but poor for a rider so young, the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:UAE Team Emirates rider was anything but happy after the stage, saying that at best he had “saved the ♎day.”

“It’s a lot of time,&rd🦋quo; Ayuso, who dropped ജto sixth overall, at 4:53, said repeatedly.

“ꦛI woke up feeling rough, with a very bad headache, did three COVID tests, but it proved to be nothing,” he told reporters.

“Overall, that’s a lot of time to lose, but for now I just have to concentrate o♒n recovering as best I can.”

Ayuso can take encouragement from how he reacted when he♌ already had his previous very difficult day in the Vuelta a España, exactly a week ago on stage 4. 

That day he struggled after the transfer in the sudden rise in heat on a third category climb, buℱt then recovered very well iꦆn the summit finishes that followed later on in northern Spain.

However, Ayuso was seemingly convinced, at least initially after the stage,♋ that his hopes of a high GC finish had been considerably lessened by the time loss on Tuesday’s time trial.

“I’ll keep on fighting and I’ve saved the day given the circumstances,” said Ayusꦚo, whose teammate João Almeida remains in seventh overall. &l✅dquo;But I will have to fight very hard if I want to finish on the podium.”