Unexpected leader Mas 'not afraid' to win the Vuelta a España
Enric Mas finds himself in an unfamiliar position after a week of the Vuelta a España, in the red jersey and seemingly in the form of his life. Although Mas has finished on the podium of the Vuelta four times in his career, this is surely the first time he has reached this point in the race with a genuine chance of winning it.
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That unfamiliar prospect brings its own pressure, but during his rest day press conference, Mas insisted that he was not afraid to go on and win the Vuelta, though he was doing his best not to think about it.
“It’s not that I’m afraid,” Mas said. “It’s just that if I’m thinking all day about winning the Vuelta, it ends up being accumulated stress that I don’t want right now. Right now, I’m simply enjoying the moment, enjoying wearing the red jersey, enjoying the team, and we have to focus on what’s coming this week. That’s about it.”
Mas has endured two difficult years since he placed third overall at the 2024 Vuelta. The Movistar rider’s 2025 season was ended early by varicose veins surgery, while he made little impact at the Giro d’Italia in May, placing 32nd overall.
After missing the Tour de France for the first time since 2018, however, Mas showed signs of form at the Vuelta a Burgos and he impressed in the first week of the Vuelta, catching Tadej Pogačar on the climb of Puerto El Bartolo.
He inherited the race lead when Pogačar crashed out of the Vuelta on Saturday, and he enjoyed a fine first day in the maillot rojo on stage 9, winning atop the Alto de Aitana.
“I've recently gone through some difficult times, but they haven’t been the worst of my professional life,” said Mas. “It’s true that it’s been hard to get back on track and regain my form, but today I’m happy to be here in that shape I’m in, and to be smiling again at the Vuelta.”
The 31-year-old insisted that he had made no major tweaks to his preparation for this Vuelta.
“Nothing has changed,” he said. “I’ve simply continued doing what I've always done: training well, taking care of myself, trying to do everything perfectly, and enjoying the process. But nothing has changed.”
Mas will begin the second week of the Vuelta with a lead of 1:18 over Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), 1:39 on Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and 2:20 over Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos). He pointed to the four-time champion Roglic as the biggest threat to his red jersey.
“I think that with Roglic's history in the Vuelta, he is the one who worries me the most personally in the run-up to Granada,” said Mas.
The second week of the Vuelta features summit finishes at Calar Alto and La Pandera, but Mas confessed that he had not yet examined the route in detail.
“To tell you the truth, I have no idea. We haven’t had the meeting yet,” Mas said. “There are a few stages that will clearly be crucial for the overall classification, but from yesterday to today I haven’t had time for anything. I haven’t looked at anything.”
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