'The most important day of my career' - Enric Mas braced for final Vuelta showdown

One day less. Richard Carapaz looked to sow chaos from distance and Primož Roglič attacked on the final ramps of Peñas Blancas, but race leader Enric Mas didn’t concede an inch on stage 19 of the Vuelta a España.

The Movistar man is within touching distance of his first Grand Tour victory, and he carries a lead of 1:37 on Roglič and 3:01 on Felix Gall into the final two stages of the race.

At 210km, Friday’s stage was the longest of the race and while the stiff final ascent was the chief difficulty, Carapaz and Sepp Kuss were among those who tried to provoke moves midway through the stage.

“To be honest, it was nice: it was a big war,” Mas said. “But we always had somebody with me, so I think we had everything under control. Sepp and Richie, they really wanted to go for it, I think more for the stage, but they are a bit close in the GC, so we had to control them. I think you saw my team, they did a super good job again. And, yeah, two days to go…”

Mas has held the red jersey since Tadej Pogačar crashed out of the Vuelta on stage 8 to Xeraco, and he immediately buttressed his advantage with victory on the Alto de Aitana a day later. He added to his lead in the second week, and he defied expectations by losing just 33 seconds to Roglič in the stage 18 time trial to Jerez de la Frontera.

Roglič responded by making a concerted attempt to discommode Mas at Peñas Blancas. His Red Bull team set the pace at the foot of the climb before Movistar took over, and Roglič himself went on the attack with 2km to go. Mas, however, was able to track the move, and he came home alongside his GC rivals, 5:11 down on the day’s winner Eddie Dunbar.

“I think they already went really hard,” Mas said of Red Bull’s forcing. “But at one moment, we wanted a bit more speed, so we went to the front and we put our rhythm, and Richie and Felix they came also.”

It leaves Mas on the brink of the biggest victory his career, though he acknowledged that he must overcome one of the Vuelta’s most demanding stages to secure his red jersey. Stage 20 includes two ascents of the Puerto de El Purche and the climb of the Passo del Duque before the HC finale at Collado del Alguacil.

“One big day. I think it’s one of the hardest in the Vuelta. so we have to be concentrated like these three weeks,” said Mas. “Tomorrow is an important day in my career. It might even be the most important day of my career.”