Enric Mas has been struggling to shorten the time gap between him and
Remco Evenepoel. In the seventeenth stage, he finished in the 15th position, 5 minutes and 11 seconds behind stage winner
Rigoberto Urán.
He paired with Remco Evenepoel in the final climb and crossed the line together. His goal was to stop Evenepoel from increasing the gap in which he was successful. "We knew this slope suited Evenepoel, but I had to try it to see how he would react. Also, because I have a nice gap on the riders behind me in the general classification, but this wasn't really the terrain to make the difference," said Mas.
With only four stages left in the tour, he will be forced to opt for an aggressive approach. He vows to keep trying till the end. "I don't know what the plan is for tomorrow yet, but if I have good legs, I'm going to try again anyway. Together with Saturday's stage, it is the most important stage to get some time back. We're going to keep trying, and then we'll see what happens," concluded Mas.
