Enric Mas "very happy" with first mountain showdown at Vuelta a Espana

Enric Mas has finished in second place last year at the Vuelta a Espana, and after yesterday's performance at Pico Jano the leader of Movistar Team will be aiming higher.

“I am very happy with this, it was a very tough stage. From the first kilometers it went very fast”, Mas said in a post-race interview. “The weather was also difficult. It became very dangerous in the descents, a number of riders went down in the peloton.”

Mas has had several crashes that have devastated his season from start to finish, until now. The Spaniard had shown good signs in the hilltop finish at Laguardia, however in the first mountain stage to Pico Jano is where the climbers' legs would be found. Mas survived the wet descent which saw several crashes and had the chance to display his newly-found form on the final climb.

Mas was the only rider able to follow the vicious pace of Remco Evenepoel on the final climb. “I was especially happy about that. It's also good that I can gain time on guys like Primoz Roglic," he commented. This result has not only seen him once again at his best level - a very important performance for his confidence - but also put in 1:21 minutes on Primoz Roglic and the majority of his GC rivals. Mas now follows the race in third place, 28 seconds down on Evenepoel who took over the lead of the race.