“I want to rest from France for a few years”: The reasons behind Movistar Team and Enric Mas changing plans for 2026

Movistar Team presented its project for the new season yesterday, with several major developments. The team confirmed that new signing Cian Uijtdebroeks, arriving from Visma, will take on the main leadership role in the Grand Tours, while Enric Mas will, for the first time in years, change his calendar to focus on the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España, putting the Tour de France to one side.

Both general manager Eusebio Unzue and Mas himself spoke to Marca about the team’s new approach and the reasoning behind these changes.

Unzue was particularly enthusiastic about the arrival of Uijtdebroeks: “There is a lot of excitement. His track record allows for optimism. He is a Grand Tour rider, with already significant experience despite his youth. We believe that here we can contribute our experience in that area and help him lead the team, to take that step which perhaps in his previous teams, because of his age or because he was sharing leadership with riders of an extremely high level, he was not able to take.”

He also analysed how the young Belgian talent will fit into a shared responsibility structure alongside Mas: “That is the idea. We are hopeful that he will establish himself and be able to share leadership and responsibility with Enric. With Enric, we are also confident in something like a reset, that his recovery will mark a new beginning. With some small modifications to his calendar, we hope to see him highly motivated going into the season.”

Regarding Mas’s new programme, Unzue explained the reasons behind the switch to the Giro and the Vuelta: “Firstly because of the appeal that discovering the Giro has for any rider, but above all for mental reasons. Putting a certain distance between himself and the Tour, with the responsibility he has taken on in recent years, could be very beneficial. He has worked very hard to shine there and unfortunately the race has not always given him what he deserved.”

Has the Tour taken a toll on Enric? “I wouldn’t go that far, but we do believe it is interesting to take some distance. We will confirm it at this new training camp, but the initial idea is Giro and Vuelta.”

The rider from Mallorca then gave his own perspective on the decision not to ride the Tour and on the team’s new phase: “It’s because I want to rest from France for a few years, or a few months, let’s put it that way, and then we’ll decide. I think I see it as an obligation to try new things, things I’ve wanted to do for many years but hadn’t tried.”

As for the arrival of Uijtdebroeks and the team’s reinforcements, Mas assessed the atmosphere that has been created: “There is no pressure. What is true is that the team has strengthened well. Aside from Cian, several very good riders have come in, as well as riders from the house, Spaniards, so in that sense it’s very good.”

In short, there is a change of plans at Movistar Team. The expectation is that Enric Mas will continue his recovery and preparation after overcoming his injury, aiming to arrive at the Giro, where he will not have pressure for the general classification (which he will have at the Vuelta) and where he will try to go after a stage.