Enric Mas testing form with GC hopes at Vuelta: "after the hard moments during the Tour, let’s see how my legs respond"

Cycling
Friday, 19 August 2022 at 19:00
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Fifth two years ago and runner-up in 2021, Enric Mas would on paper come as one of the big favourites for the overall classification at the Vuelta a Espana, but things have been far from easy for the Spaniard this year.
“For the GC, we’ll see. I hope things can go well, but considering everything that’s happened with COVID, I wasn’t really sure I would be able to race the Vuelta," Mas said in a press conference. "But we made the decision to race, and we’ll see how things go". The 27-year old has history in the race with two second places, however this year more than ever the Spanish team need him to perform as they seek the necessary points to stay afloat at World Tour level.
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“We’re hoping we can get things back to the same ‘Enric Mas’ as before. I hope to enjoy the race, and after the hard moments during the Tour, let’s see how my legs respond. There was nothing easy about the 2022 Tour for me," he said regarding the Tour de France where he had to abandon with Covid-19 in the final week.
Crashes took him out of GC contention at queen stages of both Tirreno-Adriatico and Itzulia Basque Country. Then, he crashed out of the Critérium du Dauphiné, having consequences in his preparation to the Tour de France - in which he sat in 11th position before abandoning. His ninth place at Itzulia is the best result to show for his extremely unlucky season, and his descending skills have taken a toll after all the accidents.
Mas will need to click things back into place, and the pressure to perform is on. The Vuelta won't feature extremely technical descents, but otherwise having several summit finishes where he should be able to show the best of himself.
“We’ll take it day by day and we’ll see how I respond during the Vuelta. We did a small ‘re-set’ since the Tour. I had a week off and then some training, now we’re here since Monday," he concluded.

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