Enric Mas unveils Giro d'Italia secret weapon - the Spaniard has been wearing women's team jersey

The 2026 Giro d’Italia is moving on towards its second half following the first rest day. Although most of the race still lies ahead, things have turned complicated for Movistar Team in the general classification. Their leader, Enric Mas, blew up on the first high-mountain day, conceding 6 minutes to Jonas Vingegaard on the final ascent to Blockhaus in stage 7. And the consecutive summit finish on Corno alla Scale did not bring a much desired revival.

Despite the heavy setback, the Spanish squad has no choice but to push on and switch to stage-hunting with riders like Javier Romo, Orluis Aular, Einer Rubio, or Lorenzo Milesi. However, Enric Mas himself is not ready to declare the GC fight over so soon.

"I’ve arrived feeling off, with some very strange sensations, and honestly today I managed to reset the legs, the head, everything, I turned the body around. Let’s hope yesterday was just an odd day, a bad day, and that we can keep following the same good line and enjoy the Giro," said the Movistar leader a day after Blockhaus.

What nobody knew until now, and has been revealed by Cycling Data, is a curious detail about how Mas is racing this 2026 Giro d’Italia. Apparently, Movistar Team’s GC captain is competing in the women’s team jersey. It is just an anecdote, but the kind that prompts fans to ask why this is happening.

Beyond the jersey story, Enric Mas faces the most important stage of his Giro d’Italia. That is the flat 40 km time trial that will open the second week of racing.

As is well known, the Balearic rider’s weak point at Movistar is the time trial. Against the clock is where Mas usually loses the most time, which has historically kept him from winning a Vuelta a España, despite four podiums on his palmarès.

With already a 10- minute margin to Vingegaard, this time trial will decide whether Enric Mas will stand any chance of bouncing back towards at least a modest result in the top-10 in the general classification or whether it's time switch plans for remaining two weeks.