'Afraid of what?' - Mas faces career-defining day against Roglic in Vuelta time trial

Enric Mas has been facing variations on the same question ever since he reluctantly took possession of the red jersey in Xeraco following the crash that forced Tadej Pogačar out of the Vuelta a España.

The query arrived with its bluntest force yet in Seville on Wednesday evening, where thoughts had already firmly turned towards the stage 18 time trial to Jerez de la Frontera.

“Enric, are you afraid for tomorrow?” went the opening gambit in Mas’ post-stage press conference.

Mas shrugged it off as best he could, even if he knew he was essentially dictating Thursday morning’s headlines for Spain’s sports dailies. “Afraid of what?” Mas said. “No, I’m not afraid.” What else could he say? 

Mas is well aware that he is in uncharted territory at this Vuelta. He has finished on the podium four times over the course of his career, but at no point in that run did he ever give the remotest impression he was likely to win the Vuelta.

The Mallorcan has endured a difficult two years since his last podium finish in 2024, punctuated by varicose vein surgery and poor form. Despite promising signs from Burgos in August, he and his Movistar team lined up for the Vuelta more in hope than expectation.

When Mas showed further signs of a resurgence in the opening week, catching Pogačar on El Bartolo, it looked as though he was on course for something like his habitual Vuelta performance – that is, riding compliantly to second or third place overall in the shadow of a dominant galactico.

And so when Mas surprisingly inherited the red jersey in the aftermath of Pogačar’s broken collarbone on stage 8, there seemed to be a tacit assumption that the Vuelta’s eternal second would eventually revert to his mean and cede the lead to a hardened winner like Primož Roglič or Richard Carapaz, or to a coming man like Felix Gall. 

Winning the Vuelta, we assumed, simply wasn’t part of Mas’ arc, just as, deep down, we knew the Tour de France was always destined to stay beyond the reach of Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet. 

Instead, Mas has risen to the moment, starting with the best performance of his career atop the Alto de Aitana on stage 9. He held his nerve amid the swirl of attacks on the ascent before imposing his will on proceedings in the final 3km to win the stage and cement his overall lead.

Mas was the best of the GC men again at Calar Alto and La Pandera, stretching his lead to 2:06 over Gall and 2:10 over Roglič, while Carapaz has been relegated to a distant 4:24 and Oscar Onley is surely out of the running at 5:44.

Since taking the jersey ten days ago, Mas has been in control of every situation. Movistar, so often ridiculed for their tactical missteps, have suddenly morphed into a cohesive unit, with Raúl García Pierna delivering a pair of man of the match displays on Mas’ behalf in the mountains.

On flatter days, Movistar have formed a phalanx around Mas towards the head of the peloton, and the red jersey never looked at risk of getting caught out by crosswinds and he didn’t appear remotely threatened by Red Bull’s attempts to force echelons.

Off the bike, too, Mas has carried the mantle of race leader more readily than one might have anticipated. He has never had Mikel Landa or Alberto Contador’s ease with the spotlight, but he has, by and large, cut a more relaxed figure here than in his previous Vueltas. 

But still the doubts persist. On the first rest day in Albacete, Mas was asked if he was afraid to win the Vuelta. On the second rest day, he pushed back against the idea that the time trial was weighing on his mind. Yet no matter what he says, the question keeps coming back, and there it was again in Seville on Wednesday evening.

Mas, for his part, has tried to couch it in a different way, preferring to view the time trial as a chance to win the Vuelta rather than the place where he might lose it. And he has good reason for optimism.  

At first glance, his head-to-head record against Roglič makes for sombre reading, with the Slovenian leading the series 22-0. But on closer inspection, Roglič will have to do something truly extraordinary to wrest the red jersey away from Mas on the 32.1km test to Jerez de la Frontera on Thursday.

In Monaco on stage 1, Roglič picked up 1.17 seconds per kilometre on Mas, which would only see him claw back 37 seconds on the Spaniard in Jerez. At Caen on last year’s Tour, Roglič was just shy of 3 seconds per kilometre faster than Mas and he was 3.24 seconds per kilometre quicker in the Tour de Suisse time trial in June, but it’s not clear if either test is of relevance for this iteration of Mas – or indeed, for a Roglič who barely used his time trial bike in the build-up to this Vuelta due to a training crash.

In any case, a gain of 3.24 seconds per kilometre would still leave Roglič 26 seconds short of the maillot rojo in Jerez. And while Red Bull have made optimistic noises about Roglič’s condition improving as the race draws on, there has been nothing so far to suggest he can discommode Mas on the final two mountain stages in Andalusia.

With that in mind, Mas has maintained that retaining the red jersey would mark a successful outing in Jerez, though he will surely expect to gain a little ground on Gall too. On the evidence of the Vuelta to date, Mas will back himself to see the race out in the three days that follow.

But momentum is a funny thing at the Vuelta, and the history of the race is dotted with instances of late twists and turns. If Mas sees his lead slashed to a handful of seconds in Jerez, his bullishness might fade with it. 

The ingrained doubts from a career playing second fiddle over three weeks might resurface, especially against a rider with Roglič’s unparalleled Vuelta heritage. The time trial effort might weigh a little heavier on his legs ahead of the final two mountain stages. All of a sudden, the Rogmontada mightn’t seem so fanciful after all. 

On the face of it, Mas is racing against Gall and Roglič on the road to Jerez on Thursday, but he is also racing against his own history and his own doubts and, yes, his own fears. The defining day of his Vuelta and his entire career awaits.