CyclingUpToDate Podcast: "The culmination of a decade of heartbreaks" - Why Enric Mas' Vuelta win means so much
CyclingMonday, 14 September 2026 at 21:30
The Vuelta a España has come to an end. On the CyclingUpToDate Podcast, Rúben Silva and Gavin Quinn have analyzed the final week, the brutal overall classification battle and why Enric Mas' victory means so much to the cycling world.
"It's so good to see maybe not one of the top teams on the top podium of a Grand Tour, you know," Quinn argued in what he believed was a breath of fresh air at the Spanish Grand Tour. It's probably been a while since we've had somebody who isn't in UAE, Visma, Red Bull at the top".
At the end of the three weeks, Enric Mas has come out the overall winner, after having featured on the podium four separate times, and finishing second on three occasions before finally conquering the red jersey.
"It's the culmination of a decade of heartbreaks, promising moments, ups and downs for Movistar, for Enric Mas. And it's their home Grand Tour in Spain. The scenes afterwards were unbelievable, you know, Enric Mas jumping onto a crowd of supporters with his friends, his family..."
A deserved victory for Enric Mas
The crowds in Granada roared on for Movistar during the circuit that went up Alhambra, with the GC race neutralized the period to celebrate was extended. But for the 31-year old, the celebration continued after the end of the race.
"And it's so totally deserved from a cycling perspective. Even before Pogacar left the race, he equalled Pogacar on a climb (stage 6, ed.) and I think a lot of people might almost forget that. And yeah, he was excellent in the final week like we predicted he would be".
Mas withstood the many attacks of Enric Mas and the time trial abilities of Primoz Roglic. The Movistar rider was consistent and often the best climber in the Vuelta, earning him an achievement that looked to be past his abilities.
"Movistar's team tactics were also exceptional. I know we're going to go into the stages in a little bit more detail, but they played it perfectly because it's not like there was no challenge from below. Primoz Roglic tried his best from everything from the time trial to the final two mountains".
"Felix Gall was probably the strongest climber of the race and he also threatened. Even come the final minutes of stage 20, he was still putting on pressure. Even if it wasn't directly at Enric Mas, he still was".
Enric Mas crosses the line on Stage 20 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana
A brutal queen stage
Whilst Mas had a lead over Primoz Roglic and Felix Gall into the final competitive stage, the GC win was far from consolidated. Stage 20 featured almost 5000 meters of climbing, most of them packed together in the steep climbs of the Sierra Nevada.
"Each and every one of those four climbs could have decided the race. And they just went all out, up all of them, just every single time. 50 or 60 riders in the breakaway, complete chaos," Rúben Silva pointed out.
The final mountain stage provided action like is rarely seen in professional cycling, with Richard Carapaz attacking all of the ascents in order to try and break into the podium. He did not succeed in his mission, but the race was broken apart on the very first of the four ascents, with no turning back.
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"And there are points in the race where you barely even understood what was going on," he added, with a slight comparison to the chaotic excitement of Paris-Roubaix. The constant emergence of satellite riders and the maximum efforts so far from the finish in such a difficult day proved to be the main challenge for each of the riders.
"And it was just the culmination of a great Grand Tour and a stage that's really like, there's no excuses. You are going to win this Vuelta or finish on the podium if you are excellent, if you are the best at climbing mountains".
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- We will see.
Brucegel14-09-2026 - You could have written this without spiteful tone, but I guess you're confident you'll get upvotes.Hills3314-09-2026
- If he had a repeat concussion he would probably have to retire in a much worse state. (And his fiancee has just had a repeat of her bad fall of a few months ago, showing a repeat is not unlikely.) Maybe best if he retired now, rather than taking his chances.Hills3314-09-2026
- Not many folks can put Pogi under pressure. But when it does happen i agree there is a bit of a pattern of risk-taking and crashes. For example he got lucky with his Strade Bianche crash - that could have cost him the race or more.mobk14-09-2026
- I don’t think the problem is maths so much as proofreading, he may have wanted to say Tour & Vuelta, would seem a little more logical though, in a text not actually based on logic I gyess there’s no point in supposing anything.Mistermaumau14-09-2026
- Oh really, he told you so I guess? The only reason he didn’t crash before is because Mas warned him to slow down and even then he couldn’t resist trying it on, or does it hurt his sensitive ego a little more than he likes to show to be overtaken? Even at a ripe cycling age, he still hasn’t learnt to take note of dangers. Had it not been a countryman warning him not to compete downhill in MSR there’d be a a good possibility his career would have been shortened. He’s the LAST person that needs to take senseless risks and yet, almost every time someone is pressuring him he starts to, his own worst enemy.Mistermaumau14-09-2026
- Yup dude! It is going to be hard for you, but you are going to have to come to terms with this. Pog did not win.this race. Pog did not even finish this race.. Shoulda, coulda, woulda won gets you zero UCI points even if you are by far the best rider.mobk14-09-2026
- My sources tell me that it is useful to be aware of the race situation rather than just waiting for chasers to catch up. Just saying. Perhaps Pog was getting a bit complacent and assuming no one would catch up.mobk14-09-2026
- Sounds similar to what I suggested, watch the race pretending he’s not there. Was he in Glasgow?Mistermaumau14-09-2026
- Sorry to ask the obvious(?) but as nobody explained or did before, why didn’t you try something earlier on?Mistermaumau14-09-2026
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