“I needed a break from the Tour de France” - Enric Mas hoping Giro d’Italia 2026 can reignite his career

For years, Enric Mas’s Grand Tour calendar followed the same pattern. Tour de France. Vuelta a Espana. Repeat. Now, for the first time in his career, the Movistar Team leader is finally preparing to start the Giro d’Italia, a race he admits had been in his mind for many years but one he never truly had the freedom to target.

Speaking ahead of the 2026 Giro d’Italia Grande Partenza in Bulgaria, Mas explained that the decision to skip the Tour this season was driven by far more than simple scheduling.

“I needed a break from the Tour de France for at least one year,” Mas said in conversation with CiclismoAlDía. “After several years where things didn’t work out, people always told me the Giro was special, so this was the year to change the plan.”

The Spanish climber will instead share leadership at the Giro with Cian Uijtdebroeks taking over Tour de France responsibilities for Movistar later this summer.

Mas arrives at the Giro carrying both ambition and uncertainty. The 31-year-old has built much of his Grand Tour reputation through consistency at the Vuelta a Espana, where he has finished on the podium four times, but his relationship with the Tour de France has become increasingly complicated over recent seasons through crashes, injuries and disappointing campaigns.

That frustration appears to have heavily influenced this year’s change in direction. “I wanted a change of scenery above all,” Mas admitted. “My goal was to enjoy the Giro at least once.”

The Giro itself also arrives after another disrupted build-up. Mas has suffered two injuries since last year’s Tour and has not raced since Volta a Catalunya earlier this spring.

Still, the Spaniard insisted his preparation has been carefully managed through altitude camps and that he arrives in Bulgaria confident in both his form and condition. “They say there’s one crash per year, and I’ve already had mine,” Mas joked. “I hope the bad luck is over.”

Although Mas spoke repeatedly about enjoying the experience of finally racing the Giro, he also made clear he is not arriving simply to participate. “Of course, the objective is the general classification,” he said.

At the same time, the Movistar leader acknowledged how unpredictable the Giro can become across three weeks of racing. “A thousand things can happen and you might need to use a plan B.”

The overall podium battle is expected to be led by overwhelming favourite Jonas Vingegaard, but behind the Dane a large second tier of contenders has emerged including riders such as Adam Yates, Egan Bernal, Derek Gee and Giulio Pellizzari.

Mas himself acknowledged the depth of the field. “There are a lot of rivals, it’s a very complete Giro,” he explained. “It’s true that there have been three very important withdrawals from the podium fight. But we’ll see as the race progresses how things develop.”

While Mas believes the route itself suits him reasonably well, he admitted one aspect of the Giro still worries him more than anything else. “What scares me most is the cold,” he said. “I suffer a lot with it.”

The Spaniard has historically struggled in poor weather conditions and appears hopeful that beginning the race in southern Europe rather than northern Italy may help reduce that danger during the opening week. “I hope that this year, starting further south first, we get a few weeks where the weather works in our favour.”

Mas also pointed specifically towards stage 20 as the day he believes could define the race. “Maybe it’s not the hardest, but I do think stage 20 will become the most difficult,” he predicted. “After three weeks of racing it’s a very hard day. I think it’s the stage where the most special things can happen.”

Movistar’s Giro strategy will not revolve entirely around Mas either. The Spanish team also arrive with sprint ambitions through Orluis Aular, something Mas himself openly acknowledged before the opening stage in Bulgaria. “On stage 1 the day belongs to Orluis Aular,” he said. “So I’ll adapt to that.”

Meanwhile, Mas also highlighted the importance of teammate Einer Rubio in the mountains as Movistar attempt to support their GC ambitions deep into the race. “The goal is for us to stay together in the mountains,” Mas explained.

For the first time in years, though, the wider feeling around Mas entering a Grand Tour appears noticeably different. Rather than carrying the familiar pressure and expectation surrounding another Tour de France campaign, the Spaniard instead arrives at the Giro chasing something much simpler: a fresh environment, renewed confidence and the possibility that a different race might finally bring out his best again.