Enric Mas on Pogacar at the Vuelta - ‘We have to concentrate on ourselves’

Speaking to Spanish newspaper AS during the Vuelta a Burgos, his final stage race before the Vuelta, Mas repeatedly returned to one message when discussing his ambitions for the coming weeks.

“I’ll take it day by day,” Mas said. “After the Giro, I need to see how I’m going, how I develop and whether I’m feeling good every day. I don’t want the same thing to happen again.”

It is a cautious approach after a season that has rarely gone according to plan.

Mas entered 2026 hoping his long awaited Giro d’Italia debut could produce a podium challenge. Instead, he struggled to reach his usual level and was never seriously involved in the battle for the top three.

His problems could be traced back to the end of 2025, when thrombophlebitis interrupted his preparation. Crashes then added further complications and left the Spaniard trying to rediscover his best condition while already competing at the highest level.

The Giro provided a difficult lesson. “When you’re injured, you need much more time than I thought to get back to your own level,” Mas told AS.

Since then, Mas has been able to put together a more consistent block of training. After a period of recovery, he returned to altitude with Movistar, finished 17th at the Clásica San Sebastián and then headed to Burgos for his final test before the Vuelta starts on August 22.

The early signs have been encouraging, although Mas remains cautious.

“There’s still a bit of a question mark,” he said. “We’ve come from altitude and we don’t know exactly how we will respond. But the sensations in San Sebastián were good.”

Mas is expected to share leadership duties with Cian Uijtdebroeks, giving Movistar two options for the general classification.

Uijtdebroeks also arrives at the Vuelta with something to prove after his own disappointing first Grand Tour of the season. The Belgian started the Tour de France as Movistar’s GC leader but struggled with illness for several days before eventually abandoning during stage six. 

Both riders therefore will arrive at the Vuelta looking to put a disappointing first Grand Tour of the season behind them. That could leave Movistar with a more open leadership structure, with the race itself determining how responsibilities are divided between Mas and Uijtdebroeks, while stage wins remain an important part of the team’s ambitions.

“We’re going to fight for it,” Mas said. “The work is focused on winning stages and going day by day. With the team we expect to bring, I think we can try to win a stage.”

Tadej Pogačar confirmed earlier this week that he will start the Vuelta in Monaco, instantly becoming the race’s headline act.

Mas believes the Slovenian’s presence will inevitably influence how the race unfolds, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG likely to shoulder much of the responsibility on a route packed with opportunities for the strongest climbers.

“You can see Tadej’s level. It’s spectacular,” Mas said. “His team will probably have to take responsibility almost every day because he has so many opportunities.”

For Movistar, however, the focus will remain closer to home.

“We have to concentrate on ourselves, try to win that stage and focus on the team,” Mas said.

Stage four in Andorra will offer an early test of where Mas really stands.

“I don’t think the general classification will be decided there, but you can lose a lot of time if you’re not feeling good,” he said.

After a difficult Giro and a disrupted first half of the season, Mas is keeping expectations low before the Vuelta starts.

Asked what result he would sign for, he smiled.

“We’ll go day by day. At the end of the Vuelta, I’ll tell you what I really had in mind.”