After greatly exceeding expectations in the first week of the Vuelta a España, ultra-young GC contender Juan Ayuso was once again in the line of fire on the eve of the second and race's mountainous time trial of the year.

The 19-year-old revealed after the stage 10 time trial that he was worried that he might have gone down in COVID-19, the cause of so many retirements by other teams since the Vuelta began.

But while Ayuso's time loss of 2:17 to stage winner Remco Evenpole (Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl) in the time trial was not bad for a young rider, the UAE Team Emirates rider finished the stage Afterwards, he said with satisfaction that at best he had "saved the day."

Ayuso, who dropped to sixth overall with 4:53, said repeatedly that "it's a pretty good time."

"I woke up with a bad headache, did three COVID tests, nothing.

"Overall, I lost a lot of time, but now I have to focus on recovering as best I can."

Ayuso is encouraged by his reaction to an already very difficult day at the Vuelta a España stage 4 just a week ago.

That day he struggled after the move in the sudden heat in the third class mountains, but later recovered well in the summit finish in northern Spain.

However, Ayuso seemed convinced, at least initially after the stage, that his time loss in Tuesday's time trial had considerably diminished his hopes of a top GC finish. [Teammate Joao Almeida remains in seventh place overall. [Teammate Joao Almeida remains in seventh place overall.