Enric Mas takes "hope for the future" from near-win at Vuelta a Espana

Enric Mas has ridden to his third second place at the Vuelta a Espana this year, further confirming his status as a world-class Grand Tour contender, as he put in a consistent performance and was the b iggest rival for Remco Evenepoel.

“First of all, I’d like to thank all people who have been by my side in challenging times like the ones I went through over the last few months," Mas said after completing the race. "The people who have worked with me to fix them, my wife, my family, the whole team and all fans who were there at all times. As I said yesterday, coming from the place we came 45 days ago, making the La Vuelta podium is something so beautiful for me and the whole Movistar Team."

Mas had a very complicated season, with crashes either forcing him to abandon or derailing his GC hopes at Tirreno-Adriatico, Itzulia Basque Country and the Critérium du Dauphiné, which hampered his preparation for the Tour de France where he abandoned with Covid-19 on the final week as he sat in 11th position. Until the Vuelta it seemed like a season down the drain, with the addition of the serious pressure the Spanish team was under due to the lack of the points the Spaniard was hoping to score throughout the year.

"At the Vuelta however, that has changed: "We always went day-by-day, with serenity, tackling one stage at a time... But this is cycling for you – sometimes you do well, sometimes you don’t. Happily, in this Vuelta things turned out pretty well, and I can only be thankful for that," Mas added. From the first week he showed great form as he kept up with Remco Evenepoel in the opening summit finishes, and in the second week he took time on the Belgian in the mountains. The 2:02-gap that he finished the race behind Evenepoel was almost exactly the time the Belgian put on him in the time-trial, 1:51 minutes. In the final week the two were almost equally balanced, with Evenepoel able to respond to the several attacks Mas dealt in order to try and jump onto the red jersey.

That was not possible however. He had a comfortable second place, and for the third time since 2018 he finished on the runner-up position, without yet winning the race. "Tirreno, Itzulia, Dauphiné, TDF – every single one of them had brought crashes or setbacks, and finishing my stage-race season like this is so exciting, and gives me hope for the future," he concluded.

His performance throughout the race however has brought great success to the Spanish team, as he scored a total of 844 UCI points, enough to see it climb up the standings meaningfully, and create a gap which virtually secures the team's future at the highest level. As for Mas, perhaps 2023 will be the year...