"He gave himself a zero percent chance" - Enric Mas' tactics criticized after winning breakaway

Fighting for victory in a breakaway is a difficult task, specially when the races are hilly and suit different riders in very different ways. Stage 11 of the Giro d'Italia saw Enric Mas and Jhonatan Narváez, polar opposites, fight for the victory. Thijs Zonneveld argued that Mas' tactics were poor and had him stand no chance of winning the race.

"He has barely won a race in his entire life. He is a great rider, we can state that. Perhaps he is no longer at the level of a few years ago, has lost some of his luster, and stayed with Movistar for too long," Thijs Zonneveld argued on the In de Waaier podcast.

The Dutchman was highly critical of Mas, who lost his GC ambitions in the first week of the race, but is now seeing his form improve as he begins a second phase of the race, hunting stages. He worked his way into the front group and put his climbing abilities to the test. But he came face to face with an in-form Narváez who already had two stage wins to his name at that time being.

"He is not a rider who knows how to ride finales without a gigantic climb in the finale. And now he comes out with Narváez, who is capable of doing that. He has an innate killer mentality. He wins God knows what kind of races; a guy who has both a sharp sprint and climbs well. He is the worst he could have been with".

Mas attacked on the two most difficult climbs of the day and, in the latter, dropped everyone but the UAE rider. The attacks were constant, and this also happened in a small rise in the final kilometers into Chiavari. But there wasn't enough power to drop the Ecuadorian, a pure puncheur, who happens to also be a strong climber and sprinter.

The stage simply suit Narváez better and there wasn't terrain for Mas to make the difference against his rival. The climbs were not difficult enough, and in more explosive terrain, the man who guided Tadej Pogacar throughout the 2025 Tour de France in the explosive terrain had better capabilities. At the same time, he refused to attack, dragging the race into a sprint where he stood good chances of winning.

The Dutch pundit however was very critical of Mas' tactics. "He gives up the moment he is on the final climb. He sees that Narváez is still on his wheel, and that is it. He makes a sort of attempt to drop him on a flat section: it was touching. Narváez initially thought he was just taking over. After that, Mas just went for second place. Then cycling just isn't fun anymore".

He argues the Spaniard should've at some point stopped working and waited for the chasing group to come back. In such circumstance, it would not be a one-on-one sprint where he stood very little chances; but instead he had an opportunity to win with a well-timed attack if his rivals were to race tactically.

"When five men come together, you can find a moment where you might still be able to ride away. If you are a kilometer ahead, it is not pleasant for someone to try and catch you. If Narváez and Ulissi think of each other as 'you do it,' then you have a chance," he explained.

"It is not a big chance, but greater than zero. He gave himself a zero percent chance now". Mas ended up second in the stage, however has put in the best performance of his season thus far. With freedom to chase breakaway wins, he is certain to have more opportunities over the closing 10 days of the race.