Leader Enric Mas has more than half of the Vuelta at stake today in the decisive time trial
And the first of the last exams arrived to which the student Enric Mas (31 years old) has to face it after having passed all the previous tests with flying colors and with the prize of being proclaimed champion of La Vuelta next Sunday in a monumental setting like that of the Alhambra in Granada.
The difficulty lies in the syllabus by which the Majorcan cyclist from Artà –who so far in his seven participations in the race has added a third place (2024) and three second places (2018, 2021, 2022)– since beyond when he was young –he won the Spanish CRI Championship 2012 – has never shone in the individual time trial. Until now, the times have always weighed down Mas, they have always marked his overall performance for the worse, penalizing him, but it is true that Enric had never found himself in such an advantageous situation as the one he is in today: leader of La Vuelta, with 2’06” difference over the Austrian Felix Gall and 2’10” with respect to Primoz Roglic.
I’m confident. The time trial is quite flat and does not have many curves. You have to focus on power, position and nothing else. A good result would be to keep La Roja
Ahead of us is a 32 kilometer time trial, starting in Puerto de Santa María and the end in Jerez de la Fronterain whose journey along the Cadiz coast a good part of the final fate of the race will be decided. The question everyone is asking is the same, how much time will Mas lose compared to his rivals, especially with Roglicthe most gifted in this specialty as evidenced by his 2021 Olympic champion title or the 17 victories of the 92 he has achieved in the fight against the clock?
In favor of the leader of La Vueltathe confidence of wearing La Roja today for the tenth day and the performance of the four-time winner of La Vuelta, who apparently has not been seen as excellent and who arrived in Spain with doubts after being hit by a car at the end of July while training. A nuance to which the Red Bull director, Patxi Vila. “I think Roglic is still the same as before, at least potentially he is. What has happened is that the preparation until La Vuelta has not been perfect. We have been missing 10 or 12 days, which is why we have seen that in the mountains he has lacked a bit compared to Enric Mas, but it is not that he has burst.”
Until now, Mas and Roglic In La Vuelta they have seen each other five times in the time trial. Historically, Roglic has always gotten between 1.15 and 1.30 minutes ahead of Enric. The biggest difference was in 2021 (2’04” over a distance of 33.8 km) and the smallest, not counting the time trial by way of contact in 2024 (23 seconds in 12 km), was 1’03” that same year over 24.6 kilometers.
The nerves will surely go inside, but from the outside Enric Mas He seems confident and convinced that he can do a good time trial and save La Roja. “My confidence is through the roof. I’m fine; I think we’ve done a perfect job. I’m confident. The time trial is quite flat and doesn’t have many curves. You have to focus on power, position and nothing else. A good result would be to keep the Red one.”
