In many ways, it’s hardly a surprise to see Enric Mas in the higher ranks of a Vuelta a España GC, given the Movistar leader has already taken three second places overall in his home Grand Tour.
However, after a wildly uneven Tour de France, in which he began performing below expectations but ended on a far more upbeat note, it was unclear how Mas would race on home terrain this August."
So far, though, Mas has shown a huge degree of consistency in the 2024 Vuelta. So far, only on one key climb – the Puerto Ancares – has his tactic of attacking the GC group where possible, like at Hazallanas in Granada, and shadowing Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) on the other major climbs failed to work out.
But despite losing a minute at Ancares to Roglič, Mas remains in third overall, at 3:01 on race leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). And as he and the rest of the Vuelta peloton now tackle the next crunch stage and its gravity-defying summit finish at Cuitu Neru on Sunday, Movistar remain totally convinced that the man from Mallorca can still fight for the overall victory.
“We’re in the same situation, even if it’s true that both Carlos Rodríguez [Ineos Grenadiers] and Mikel Landa [Soudal-QuickStep] are getting stronger each day,” Movistar sports director Pablo Lastras told Cyclingnews before stage 14.
“Roglič’s already had less good days at Hazallanas and managed to hide it, and now Mas has had a less good day on Ancares and he managed to hide it as well.”
“But we’re still upbeat and waiting to see what can happen. We’ve got lots of options, the team’s going very well, and we’re still fighting and on the attack because it’s the only way to fight for the final victory and the podium. But we don’t forget, either that Ben O’Connor is defending himself really well.”
Lastras is anything but surprised at how well Decathlon have been racing, saying that his main pre-race favourites had been Rodriguez, Roglič and the French team in general. “And,” he adds with a grin, “Enric of course.”
Movistar already have a Vuelta a España winner in their line up for this year, too, in the shape of Nairo Quintana, who took the race outright back in 2016.
Repeated crashes and subsequent injuries have prevented Quintana from racing consistently and gaining his usual level, Lastras says. But the Colombian veteran is still playing a vital role in the 2024 Vuelta team.
“He gives the group a great deal of confidence, serenity and tranquility and that’s fundamental. Every director has to have a key confidant in the team, and that man here is Nairo,” Lastras explains.
“It has to be emphasised that Nairo is here for the team, not for himself, and we’re very happy with him. On Friday, for example, he worked hard on some flatter terrain that wasn’t suited to him and that sums up how well he’s racing – it demonstrates the hands-on attitude he has, which ultimately matters more than the physical side of things.”
Interestingly, Lastras confirms that a similar kind of upbeat philosophy is what is currently behind the Mas renaissance at the Vuelta. Or as Lastras puts it, “Since the Tour he’s been a different rider, he’s got a different kind of dynamic driving him on.”
The exact nature of that different dynamic or attitude to racing is both straightforward and complicated to attain at the same time.
“I think he’s enjoying the bike more,” Lastras says. “And it’s curious because the same thing happened to me back when I was a pro.”
“Normally I don’t like talking about myself as a rider, but I have to say that at 31, something happened - my work philosophy suddenly changed, overnight. I started enjoying suffering on the bike, I enjoyed being in the sun, the rain, in the races in general. Even after I’d crashed, I still enjoyed it. In every area, I was in a far better place.”
What sparked the change in Lastras' case was a heart-to-heart conversation with Eusebio Unzue, the longstanding sports director at Caisse d'Epargne, the former sponsor for the Movistar team.
“We had a big chat, talked everything through, and from then on things began to get better. It was like a big wake-up call, one of the ones that doesn’t do any harm, just lots of good, and from then on I started to enjoy my racing.”
The moral behind Mas’ switch in attitude - and his back in 2007 – is one which Lastras feels is good to transmit to the younger generations of racers, often racing at high levels from a very early age.
“They’re coming through super-prepared, but as riders they don’t enjoy what they’re doing. But the day they start to enjoy their racing it’ll only go better, because everything does - from their capacity to recover to their capacity inside competition.”
“In my case, back in 2007 I won a stage of the Benelux Tour, I went on to win the Vuelta a Andalucia and I even got a Vuelta a España stage and a day in the lead in 2011. But like I’m saying it’s not about the wins, it’s about the enjoyment. That’s the important thing to get.”
