Great cyclists prove their worth precisely when things are not going well. This ability to turn adverse situations around is what makes them unique athletes and gives them back their lost charisma and credibility.
And that is what Enric Mas did in the last week of the Tour, especially in the penultimate stage. The Movistar rider from the Balearic Islands was trying to get into the top five in the general classification, but that vanished in the first mountain stage, which was already a long way off, with the climb to Galibier.
With the arrival of the Pyrenees, he accepted the change of situation and began to seek a stage victory from the breakaway. And we have seen a version of him that many fans had missed. A brave, courageous rider, generous in his efforts and who knows how to find his way in high-level breakaways.
He was once again the protagonist on the way to La Couillole. He took the breakaway by storm. In fact, he even rode alone at the front for a few kilometres. Afterwards, he himself selected the break, breaking Bardet and Kelderman, among others, and fought Carapaz throughout the climb until Vingegaard and Pogacar brought the adventure to a halt.
He ended up fifth and there was no prize, but at least he got onto the podium as the most combative rider of the stage. And at 29 years old he can draw lessons from this Tour. “It was very different. It was a very hard Tour at the beginning, but with a different feeling at the end. I have discovered a new way of racing,” he explained at the finish line.
In fact, what was initially a suffering ended up being a pleasure for him: “I have really enjoyed this end of the Tour. I have helped Gaviria in the sprints, I have collaborated on the flat and I have learned from the best of my team. Next year I will be 30 years old and I will decide if I continue betting on generals for one or two more years, or start racing for objectives like today’s”, he added.
However, for now his next goal is the Vuelta, which starts on August 17, and he hopes that this version of him will return to fight for the general classification. He has always performed much better in the Spanish round, not in vain he has three second places.
“There is no time to switch off. I finished the Tour very well and I hope to continue like this in the Vuelta. I am recovering from something that I don’t know what it was, but I am fine now and in the Vuelta I will have to go all out. That is what the team expects of me and that is how I have to perform,” he concluded.
Neither his feelings nor his attitude are what he showed in the first week of racing. And then he will continue trying to extend his peak form until the autumn classics, with special attention to Il Lombardia, the last Monument of the year. The season is far from over for Enric Mas.
