👏💪💙 Contenros con otra gran actuación de @EnricMasNicolau en Cuitu Negru #LaVuelta24 Se mantiene en el tercer lugar de la general con toda una semana de carrera por delante. ¡A seguir! #RodamosJuntos | @lavuelta
Enric Mas attacks Cuitu Negru and puts himself back into the fight for La Vuelta victory - "Confidence has always been one hundred percent"
CyclingSunday, 01 September 2024 at 18:33
Enric Mas has shown today that Puerto de Ancares was an off day and that he is still the strongest in the mountains along with Primoz Roglic in this Vuelta a España. He has put in a strong performance at Cuitu Negru, being the first of the GC riders to cross the line; taking time on Ben O'Connor but also sending a message to Primoz Roglic that he is still very much in the fight for the race victory.
In statements to the Spanish media, the Movistar Team leader was very satisfied with his performance in a pass that he described as "very hard", he was glad that Ancares had been the result of a bad day and assured that he would fight for the third week, although now he will be looking forward to the rest day:
"Today I had a moment where I almost didn't make it to the finish, it was very hard, I've seen almost 40 times the video of Purito (Joaquim Rodríguez, ed.), Bala (Alejandro Valverde, ed.) and Alberto [Contador] here, it was very hard," he described. Mas did not match the early attack of Primoz Roglic, but that was a good strategy as he avoided exploding as was the case only a few days ago. Riding at his own pace, he was able to claw back to the Slovenian in the gruesome gradients of the Asturian climb and even drop him. At the finish Roglic did manage to come back, but Mas was still very strong and also took time on the rest of his rivals in the podium fight.
"We have a lot of Vuelta, there's a lot left, let's enjoy it. Confidence has always been one hundred percent. The other day I said that I expected a good moment and now it is confirmed that it was so. Ben has done a very good stage, little by little, we hope to have caught the others, little by little recovering time. We're going to attack on the rest day, we're going to take it with enthusiasm, it's been a very hard week and we've got a very hard week ahead of us," he concluded.
Mas continues to be 1:40 minutes behind Roglic but is now only 2:23 minutes away from the red jersey; whilst he also won valuable seconds on Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa.
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- the “cloud of shame” thing has a lot to do with the cycling world’s REACTION to a doped rider, not simply whether or not they doped. merckx got caught over and over, but clearly no cloud of shame affixed by cycling culture to him. same with countless tdf champions and other legends i won’t list again at risk of belaboring the point.OCexile07-11-2024
- He was supposed to race Tour + Vuelta, but since Pogacar and Vingegaard are going there, he changed to Giro + Tour (just to try to win the yellow jersey at the 1st week and the ITT probably). Against Roglic he has a bit more chances in Italy. Press will consider him as the favourite anyways, as usual. Other contenders not to underestimate will be Ayuso and Jorgenson. Now he's just waiting to see how many kilometers the ITTs will have. to formalize his participation.Acapulco07-11-2024
- Oh look. CUD leans into another doper for commentary. Hey guys - there are other people to talk to... You know... people who didn't leave the sport in a cloud of shame...critguy07-11-2024
- Its results will mainly depend on him, though.Acapulco07-11-2024
- He needs a team fully commited where he is the lone capable of winning. In RBB there is several men who can, he would have been in competition.Acapulco07-11-2024
- agreed. and in spite of his doping, his TDF win was validated by the UCI with the mere addition of an asterisk.OCexile07-11-2024
- He was always a great tactician. But he pushed doping on his riders from back in the CSC days big time. I read Tyler's book, it was dark...awp07-11-2024
- wow, this is a shock. this guy is a major talent on the MTB, and he just won the WC. I'm surprised he doesn't want to spend a year enjoying the rainbow jersey.mij07-11-2024
- This is true. But also, for some reason the amount of Athletes who are getting asthma related to sports is on a steady climb. Not in just cycling but around the world in seemingly every single sport. I don’t have any explanation for this. Could it be the changes in weather conditions and such compared to 20yrs ago? Or is something going on in relation to doping? I have not read enough on this to have a solid understanding or opinionmd197507-11-2024
- "Armstrong won his 7 wins. Fair and square. Doping was rampant during his time. He did was just to level the playing field" comment from KHWong. He cheated, he enticed/forced teammates to cheat, he affected other's families and tainted other's reputations, he sued those who factually accused him of cheating in their attempt to prove breach of contract, he got paid to admit to his lies. Nice guy; right? Anyone who has not been prosecuted for cheating per THEIR OWN SPORT'S RULES THAT THEY AGREE TO ABIDE BY and continues to deny in public or to themselves, and rationalizes the reasons for doing so is weak of mind and body, has no integrity or ethics and ahould find another job or form their own cycling federation where anything goes. The fans will not care if you screw up your bodies for their entertainment. Just take look at boxing and American football. Even worse when fans of the sport themselves make those rationalizations for the cheaters. There has been cheating of all types throughout the history of many sports; nearly 150 years in cycling itself since competitions started, and the gambling and revenue that came along with them. Cheat if you want, but lack any personal integrity. If that is what you to be, or want to emulate fine; but no one should expect or receive pity for a premeditated decision to cheat in any manner. You are deceiving yourself if competing, and also deceiving the fans. Cycling will soon be like "professional wrestling": choreographed and with the winner being known in advance. Oh wait; that is what already has happened this year. It has been found that many of cycling's "greats" (i.e. Coppi, Merckx, et al.) were cheating and possibly caused (did cause) one or more premature deaths in cycling. Go ahead and enjoy a sport that you cannot trust; I will not.BraneDed07-11-2024