"He must have had a bad moment" - Enric Mas surprised by Mikel Landa's crack at La Vuelta

Enric Mas didn't want to test it on stage 18 of the Vuelta a España. There are 2 much harder days of high mountains coming and today the only thing he did was to follow closely the attacks of Richard Carapaz that he believes were aimed at him but ended up hurting Mikel Landa.

After reaching the finish line, the Movistar Team leader regretted what happened to the Basque from Soudal - Quick-Step who could be a potential ally in his hunt of the overall victory. He made it clear that the 'Locomotora de Carchi' attacked Mas' third spot in the overall classification but the Movistar rider responded strongly. He arrived safely in the GC group at the end of the day.

Mikel Landa did not and Mas was asked about his compatriot: "He must have had a bad moment, you know Mikel, he never gives up, for Spanish cycling it's a shame. Hopefully it won't be me who is eliminated tomorrow. It was more to get Richard's attack out of me, but there have been consequences and I'm fine."

Into stage 19, Mas continues to be 1:20 minutes away from Primoz Roglic and 1:25 from race leader Ben O'Connor who survived another day.