'We were confident' - Mas' storming time trial carries him to cusp of Vuelta victory

The Movistar man carries a lead of 1:37 over Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) into the final three days after he limited his losses on the Slovenian to just 33 seconds across the 32.1km test.

While Mas had reason to be optimistic about his chances of holding the red jersey beforehand, the expectation was that Roglič would move considerably closer ahead of the final two mountain stages.

But the signs were promising for Mas at the first time check after 11km, where he was 21 seconds down on Roglič, and he limited the damage to 37 seconds by the second check. In the finale, Mas even succeeded in clawing back time on Roglič, coming home 12th on the stage, 51 seconds behind winner Stefan Küng (Tudor).

“We were confident that we’d lose less time than people thought,” Mas said. “We split the time trial into three sections, and I think it went well.  I was very cautious on the last few roundabouts because they were very slippery, and I almost had to ease off a little bit.”
Mas was kept abreast of the splits to Roglič throughout the time trial, and his morale rose accordingly every time his radio crackled into life.

“Yeah, I think the first one was 19 seconds, then 26, then 39, and then it went again to 34, I think, in the final, so yeah, I’m happy,” said Mas. “To be honest, we had it in mind that this was more or less the time that we wanted to lose. So, yeah, two days more…”

Mas inherited the red jersey from Tadej Pogačar when the world champion crashed out on the road to Xeraco on stage 8, but he immediately made it his own by winning atop the Alto de Aitana the following day.

The 31-year-old has looked in command on the summit finishes to date and he will be strongly favoured to fend off Roglič and Felix Gall – now third at 3:01 – on the summit finishes at Peñas Blancas and Collado del Alguacil.

“It could be a lot of time or a very little time,” Mas said of his revised overall lead. “We simply have to carry on, just as we’ve done so far. I think we’ve done very, very well. I’m happy and looking forward to taking on these two days in the mountains.

“There are two really important days and also the last day in Granada, so we have to be really focused, and we also have to be confident.”

On Thursday’s evidence, Mas has every reason to be confident. After four podium finishes over the years, the Mallorcan is on the cusp of the defining moment of his career and Spain’s first Vuelta triumph since Alberto Contador in 2014.