In the UAE press conference, the gazes of Isaac del Toro, current pink jersey wearer, and Juan Ayuso never met, but both said they have no internal rivalry and that the important thing is to reach Rome with the pink jersey.

"Winning the Giro would be a dream, so of course I want to win it, but if in the end one of my teammates wins, in a way it would mean that the goal has been achieved and that is the main purpose," Juan Ayuso confirmed. UAE Emirates has proven to be the strongest team in this Giro d'Italia, with Ayuso winning the stage to Tagliacozzo and Isaac Del Toro conquering the pink jersey in Siena. "I only want to say that if I lose this Giro, I would only be angry if the victory went to another team".

During the stage ending in Siena, Ayuso fell and consequently fell behind: three stitches were applied to his knee.

"I think yesterday went really well for the team," the Spaniard explained. "I would have preferred not to fall again, because I fell on the knee I had already hit and had to get three stitches, so it hurts quite a lot. Fortunately, we have a rest day today and my fall happened perhaps at the best possible moment, because I have the chance to recover. The race exploded yesterday and we went full gas immediately and then I fell. I was always riding with crossed fingers hoping not to puncture because the cars were never behind us. But I think we saved the day and Isaac had a fantastic day. So yes, overall it went quite well".

Juan Ayuso feels good mentally and is thinking about tomorrow's time trial, where Primoz Roglic could gain significant time, but he is not worried: the advantage over the Slovenian, currently 1'12", is sufficient to remain at the top of the general classification.

"Despite the fall, I'm mentally fine. I think if someone had told me I would face the first rest day with more than a minute over Roglic and be second in the general classification, I would have signed without a shadow of a doubt. So both I and the team are in a privileged position. And tomorrow we just need to continue trying to gain time on our rivals and have a good second week".