Movistar Team hopes Enric Mas can compete in the Tour de France: Are there reason to dream?

Movistar Team has started the 2023 season in an exciting way with triumphs of young riders like Pelayo Sánchez or Oier Lazkano and promising performances like those of Iván Romeo. However, for the team to really take a step forward in the UCI classification and in importance in cycling today, they need a leader capable of performing at a high level in the big stage races and, after the non-signing of Carlos Rodríguez, that leader can only be Enric Mas.

At Movistar they still believe in the Mallorcan, as stated in recent statements to the newspaper AS sports director Chente García Acosta, who confirmed that they expect his level in the Tour de France to be higher than in previous years:

"Let's hope that Enric has a bit more luck than last year and we can see him racing the Tour, not like last year when he had to leave on the first day. Without bad luck and being healthy, hopefully we can ride the races. I'm not going to say win or anything like that, but the goal is to race them. The rest will come if things go well".

So, the question to ask is whether at this stage of his career we can think that it makes sense for Movistar Team to continue trusting in Enric Mas. And the truth is that, although his 2023 was disappointing, there are some data that may indicate that there are reasons for the Mallorcan to fight to get into the top five of the Gallic race (of course no one believes that he can fight for the victory with Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and company in the equation).

Those reasons to believe that Enric can be competitive are given first by his fifth place in the 2020 Tour and sixth in 2021, in which he showed he could be in the group of the best in the high mountains and, above all, by his two second places in the 2021 and 2022 Vueltas a España. In both he managed to maintain a high level against Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel. It is true that the Tour is not the Vuelta, it is a much harder race both in terms of route and psychological demand, but when Enric has been fit and has not fallen (leaving aside as we say his disappointing 2023) we have seen him being able to hold the best in the high mountains.

In this Tour there are two time trials: one of 25 kilometers in the sixth stage and the final of Nice of 34. A miracle if he does not lose at least 3 minutes (if not 4) between the two against his rivals. That makes him, already from the start, have a huge disadvantage with some of his rivals

The other reason is that since 2021 he has not performed at a high level in the Tour and the rivals in this 2024 are too many and too good. Because he not only has to fight to get into the Top 5 against the leaders Vingegaard, Pogacar, Roglic or Evenepoel, but also against second swords like Adam Yates who have shown more than him in the Grande Boucle.

In short, it is positive that Movistar Team continues to believe in Enric Mas and that the Mallorcan has given reasons in the past to deserve some confidence from his team, but that the Tour de France 2024 will have such a bestial participation that it is difficult to think that he can be fighting with the best.