Spain's junior road race champion cyclist Juan Ayuso has signed a five-year deal with the UAE Emirates team, it said on Thursday. The 17-year-old Ayuso has shown great promise at climbing and time-trialling and the team said he may go straight into the professional top-flight. "We are deciding where is best for his first year, but whether it be at a Continental (second tier) or professional level is still to be defined," team director Matxin Fernandez said. A recent trend in cycling has been to blood talent early and UAE's Slovenian all-rounder Tadej Pogacar came third at the Vuelta a Espana in 2019, picking up three stage wins in the race while still just 20. jm/dif/dmc/gj