Enric Mas takes "great satisfaction" after defeating Tadej Pogacar at brutal Giro dell'Emilia

Enric Mas has shown incredible form throughout the Vuelta a Espana, however the fatigue has now weighed on his legs as he came into the final block of classics in Italy with fine form, taking an impressive at the Giro dell'Emilia.

"Alejandro [Valverde] was there, he fought until the end, and today I was able to finish off myself," Mas said in a post-race interview. "Everyone knows who Tadej Pogacar is; for me it is a great satisfaction to have won in an attack in which he was."

´Mas managed to respond to the attack of the Slovenian in the penultimate, and launched his own move. He almost dropped Pogacar, however he had energy left for the final lap, where with the assistance of Alejandro Valverde he managed to put in a destructive move in the beginning of the ascent. Mas soloed to the win, beating Pogacar and Domenico Pozzovivo who completed the podium.

“It has been a difficult year, because at the beginning of the season I had quite a few crashes and mistrust came over me. Luckily, after the Tour we did a good 'reset', and now, here we are, quite well and with a lot of confidence," the Spaniard continued.

With this win, Mas also positions himself between the favourites for Il Lombardia next week, which will feature even or climbing. "Lombardia is 60 km more, and we know that these types of classics are very good for Alejandro. Today was today."

"Now comes Tre Valli and other classics, where we hope to be able to fight as well, and Lombardia, which will be the great objective of this end of the season," he concluded, after what was his first one-day race win of his career.