Enric Mas dreaming high after almost conquering maiden career monument

Enric Mas put on a show today at Il Lombardia, the final race of his season. Movistar Team took hold of the race early on, and almost set the Spaniard for a win that would be far from surprising taking into consideration how strongly he took up the final months of the season.

“I want to try one-day more often, I really like it,” the Mallorca native said directly after the end of the race. Following his second place at the Vuelta a Espana but most importantly his win at the Giro dell'Emilia, Mas came as a big favourite towards the final monument of the season.

The Spanish team took responsibility on the day, and where it was necessary - Civiglio - Mas made his move. Having kept up with Tadej Pogacar following his initial attack was impressive enough, but the Spaniard made a move of his own. However, Pogacar responded, with the two being joined by Mikel Landa in the descent.

“I tried to attack on the previous two climbs, but you could see he was very strong as well," Mas commented. On the final ascent to San Fermo della Battaglia Mas tried on two more occasions, but the explosivity favoured the Slovenian, who managed to respond, and took things to a sprint. The result was almost inevitable from there on.

"I waited for the sprint and he beat me," Mas added. He delivered on the performance of this past week, however found stronger competition in the UAE Team Emirates rider. Nevertheless, his consistency and climbing prowess has led to a very strong result.

For the future however, the new sole leader of Movistar has left a promise: "I'm thinking about Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Clásica San Sebastian and Il Lombardia. Those three race are my favorites. We are going to train to try and win a monument.”