Juan Ayuso has left the Giro d’Italia on Thursday. The Spaniard started the eighteenth stage, but soon abandoned it due to a swollen eye from a bee sting.
Ayuso started the stage with a huge swelling around his right eye as a result of an allergic reaction to a bee sting. The 22-year-old rider from UAE Team Emirates still wanted to start to support his teammate and pink jersey wearer Isaac del Toro.
But on the first climb, Ayuso was already dangling at the back of the peloton and had to let go. After about 40 kilometers, he therefore hit the brakes.
Ayuso started as a top favorite in the Giro and won the first mountain stage, but after that things went less well. During the gravel stage, he fell on his knee for the second time in this Giro.
On the second rest day, Ayuso said that he was in a lot of pain. In recent days, he lost a lot of time in two mountain stages, causing him to drop from 3rd to 26th place in the standings.
Ayuso participated in the Giro for the first time. In the Vuelta a España, he finished third in his debut in 2022 and fourth a year later. In the Tour de France, he had to give up last year.