Analysis | The 3 reasons why Movistar Team's Vuelta a Espana has been an absolute failure

Movistar Team saved the season of grand tours by stages in 2022 thanks to the second place of Enric Mas in the Vuelta a Espana. However, this season the Spaniard has not been able to finish higher than sixth in the general classification after not being able to compete even against the Jumbo-Visma and not even being the best Spaniard after finishing behind Juan Ayuso and Mikel Landa.

We want to analyze the causes of Movistar Team's failure in the Spanish stage race, which goes far beyond the performance of Mas, who is having a disappointing 2023.

1. The '8' chosen by Eusebio Unzue and company

Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta after racing the 3 majors despite the fact that Jumbo-Visma has a beastly squad. In Movistar Team, the best man of the year has been (at least by UCI points) Matteo Jorgenson, and he has been left out of the '8' of the Spanish race.

Carlos Verona supposedly suffered a virus and could not be part of the game, although just a few days later he was racing in Great Britain. Both of them will leave the telephone company at the end of the year and it looks like that's why they didn't race. The other senseless casualty is Fernando Gaviria, another who was sent to Great Britain after being on the preliminary list. With Iván García Cortina sprinting backwards in the only sprint he contested, it's hard to see the Colombian out.

2. Little or none of the secondary

Ruben Guerreiro started very well with Movistar winning a stage earlier in the year, but the season challenge follows the same downhill level he showed at EF Education in 2022. He had to withdraw.

Einer Rubio was not the same as in the Giro d'Italia and did not come close to repeating his victory.

Oier Lazkano has been suffering from physical problems and has not been able to contribute anything either.

Of the rest, little to say. Oliveira and Erviti in breakaways... victory options equal or less than zero. Very complicated with this strategy.

3. Enric Mas

Absolute failure of Vuelta a España for Enric Mas. He has not been up to the task. In the last two editions he competed against Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel, but this time he did not measure up against Jumbo-Visma. He was at the level of a Juan Ayuso who is still green and a Mikel Landa from whom nothing was expected.

From a rider like Enric who has been second 3 times in the Vuelta and who plans his whole season to be good in the Spanish race to perform at this level and finish with a poor sixth position is not acceptable.

And I personally am not one of those who will criticize him for the way he rides. He's not an attacking cyclist and that's fine, not everyone is Contador. I criticize him for his poor form and for being below what is expected of him for what he has shown.