He was one of the main victims of the massive fall on the 5th stage of this Critérium du Dauphiné… And Juan Ayuso he did not start the 6th stage this Friday. While his team UAE Team Emirates had announced that he could continue the race Thursday evening in a press release, the Spaniard ultimately did not show up at the start of Hauterives this Friday. Fairly heavily injured in the left elbow and hip, Ayuso was “too uncomfortable to run” and preferred not to take any risks to concentrate on his recovery before the big objective of his season: the Tour de France, which begins in just three weeks. “He will now return home to get fit and recover under the supervision of the medical team, before heading to altitude to continue his preparation“, indicated his team in a press release.
Video – Remco Evenepoel took the start this Friday
Critérium du Dauphiné – The complete medical assessment the day after the fall #Dauphiné #TDF2024 #Crash #Fall #Balance sheet https://t.co/Nb7iPIvlvE #cycling #cycling
— Cyclism’Actu (@cyclismactu) June 7, 2024
Eight non-starters
Juan Ayuso is not the only one not to have started this morning, since Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty), Jasha Sütterlin, Kamil Gradek (Bahrain Victorious), Laurens Huys (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Harry Sweeny, Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education-EasyPost) and Odd Christian Eiking (Uno-X Mobility) have also left this Critérium du Dauphiné. If Goossens, Sütterlin, Gradek, Huys And Eiking were forced to abandon because of the fall, this is not the case for Nerurkar and of Sweeny. In fact, the two runnersEF Education-EasyPost fell ill. For the young British revelation, it was a positive test for Covid-19 that took him out of the game, while Sweeny must leave the race due to respiratory problems.
Harry Sweeny and Lukas Nerurkar will not start stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné. Lukas has tested positive for Covid and Harry has a non-Covid related respiratory illness. We hope they both get well soon. 🫶
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) June 7, 2024