'The team needed a win like this' - Mas' Vuelta triumph a timely boost for Movistar

Mas all but won the Vuelta with his astonishing display in the stage 18 time trial in Jerez and he stood firm on the final two mountain stages in Andalusia to ride into Granada as the winner on Sunday evening, becoming Spain’s first champion since Alberto Contador back in 2014.

“I felt nervous,” Mas said. “It’s been a day with a mix of emotions, all positive. Now we have to keep doing what we’re doing. That’s how athletes are. We’re already thinking about the next goals, and we don’t have time to enjoy the victories.”

Whatever happens for Mas from here, the 2026 Vuelta is likely to prove the crowning moment of his career, and the triumph came after two years blighted by injury and struggles for form. 

He was already showing signs of a resurgence in the opening week of this Vuelta, but the true turning point arrived on the Alto de Aitana on stage 9, when he claimed an authoritative victory on his first day in red.

“The Aitana stage was the most special,” Mas said. “It’s true that it was the one in which I was able to achieve victory and I think it was the most special of these 21 days.”

The final lap of the finishing circuit in Granada was neutralised, which meant that Mas had time to savour his triumph with his teammates, who were wearing a special edition Movistar kit for the occasion. It was the team’s first Vuelta victory since Nairo Quintana beat Chris Froome to the maillot rojo in 2016.

“It’s been simply special, very special,” Mas said. “It’s been a day to remember, and it’s been a special Vuelta.”

Mas had placed second in the Vuelta in 2018, 2021 and 2022, and he took third in 2024, but at various points over the past two years, it looked as though his opportunity to win a Grand Tour had come and gone. “Yeah, it was a long wait for today,” said Mas. “But I dreamed of it. I worked for this.”

It was also a victory of enormous value for Movistar, who hadn’t won a Grand Tour since Richard Carapaz claimed the Giro d’Italia back in 2019. In the intervening period, the team’s Grand Tour strategy had regularly come under fire, while their selection for this Vuelta was constructed with scoring UCI points in mind as much as chasing overall victory. 

Quintana was left out of the team in his final season as a pro, and the team suffered an early blow when co-leader Cian Uijtdebroeks was forced out by injury after stage 4. But Mas was hitting the form of his life and he held his nerve to win the Vuelta, 2:15 clear of four-time champion Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

“It’s a fact that the team needed a victory like this,” Mas said. “And now we have it.”