"One day you can be on top, and the next you can lose" - Enric Mas on the lessons he has learnt before life-changing Vuelta win
Cycling
Enric Mas enjoyed a special day at Movistar's headquarters in Madrid, where he celebrated his 2026 Vuelta a España victory with company employees. The event offered a chance to look back on a career shaped by hard work, perseverance and the ability to overcome setbacks. It also gave Mas the opportunity to share his views on how cycling is changing and what he might do when his professional career ends.
At the event, the Movistar Team rider from Mallorca shared some of the lessons he has learned from racing. Despite his success, he said he still has the desire to keep fighting for major goals.
Could he become a rider manager?
One of Enric Mas’ most notable reflections concerned his future beyond racing. He has not ruled out staying involved in the sport in a different role and helping the next generation fulfil its potential.
“The younger generation arrives with different ideas and a lot of self-confidence. I think we also have a great deal to learn from them,” he explained.
In that regard, Mas admitted he would like to explore becoming a rider manager, provided he could build close relationships with the riders and play an active role in their development.
“Looking further ahead, I’d be interested in guiding other riders as a manager, with a small group that would let me stay genuinely close to them and help them along their way,” he said.
His comments point to one possible way of continuing in cycling, using the experience he has gained at the highest level to guide riders at the start of their professional careers.
Enric Mas won this year's Vuelta a España
Humility, one of cycling’s great lessons
Beyond the results, the 2026 Vuelta winner emphasised the values he has learned throughout his career. For Mas, humility is one of the sport’s most important lessons, in a discipline where success can change from one day to the next.
“Above all, cycling has taught me humility. One day you can be on top, and the next you can lose,” he said.
The rider also highlighted how important personal and professional support can be in difficult moments. Family, friends and the team have been vital in helping him stay motivated and keep working, even when results have not gone his way.
“You have to keep working and keep dreaming, because dreams can come true in the end,” he added.
It is a philosophy well suited to a demanding sport, where consistency and the ability to overcome setbacks are crucial to achieving major goals.
Technology transforms performance
During the event in Madrid, Enric Mas also reflected on how cycling has changed in recent years, particularly in technology and performance analysis.
“Technology has brought about a radical change in cycling. Today, we have a huge amount of data that lets us analyse practically every aspect of performance,” he explained.
Collecting and analysing data have become essential tools for preparing for races, managing training loads and fine-tuning tactics. This evolution has changed both how riders prepare and how they approach Grand Tours.
The challenge, in an increasingly specialized sport, is to use these resources to improve performance and make more precise decisions throughout the season.
Enric Mas at the 2026 Vuelta a Espana
Ready to fight for major goals again
Despite achieving one of the biggest successes of his career by winning the 2026 Vuelta a España, Mas remains ambitious and keen to compete at the highest level. He admitted that reaching the top has not always been easy, which makes every victory all the more meaningful to him.
“I’m an athlete who has had to work very hard to achieve wins, and perhaps that’s why I value them even more,” he said.
Rather than resting on his achievements, the rider from Mallorca is focused on new challenges and the chance to fight for the biggest victories on the calendar again.
“My challenge is to keep dreaming and get back there, competing for major goals, especially at the Vuelta, which is my favourite race,” he said.
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A champion looking ahead
The celebration at Telefónica’s headquarters offered a more personal look at Enric Mas, who combines satisfaction with his sporting achievements with a desire to keep growing and learning.
His message centred on three pillars: staying grounded, the value of teamwork and the need to remain ambitious even after reaching major goals. His thoughts about a possible future as a manager also suggest that his connection to cycling could continue after his time in the saddle.
After winning the 2026 Vuelta, Mas is looking ahead to new challenges, guided by an idea that has shaped his career: keep working, learn from every experience and never stop dreaming.
Juan LarraCycling Journalist
Juan Larra is a writer for Cyclinguptodate and editor-in-chief of Ciclismoaldia, where he has played a central role since its inception. Under his leadership, the website has become a trusted source for professional cycling coverage, offering in-depth analysis, news, and feature stories.
A sports journalist with over 20 years of experience, Juan earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Seville in 2007. He began his career covering a wide range of sports—including football, basketball, Formula 1, MotoGP, tennis, and cycling—for platforms such as the official La Liga app, Vodafone and Movistar websites, NBA Blogdebasket, and Cadena Cope, honing his skills in writing and editorial management.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Juan contributes to Cyclinguptodate and serves as editor-in-chief for the tennis-focused site Tenisaldia. Throughout his career, he has conducted exclusive interviews with cyclists and sports figures, provided detailed analysis of competitions ranging from local Spanish races to major international events, and acted as a special correspondent at prestigious races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España.
Juan’s combination of experience, expertise, and direct access to athletes has established him—and the platforms he leads—as authoritative voices in professional cycling.
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- how it is "We’ve taken another big step forward for next year" he just lost in lombardia to a 20 year old, and two 30+ year olds. and not even top 10 for WCRR.abstractengineer19-10-2026
- This is similar to Lebron. first he said i need to consult my family , my daughter, need respectable money blah blah blah and then dont care about family , dont care about money, only onion rings, am off to Philly, very very far from family. Off season should be with family more, no?abstractengineer19-10-2026
- I hope he comes back strong for a proper battle with Tadejmij19-10-2026
- congrats to a great career and good retirement.mij19-10-2026
- Any artificial product should be reported.Any team that doesn't should be stripped of wins and fined.I know that this level of transparency does not and will never exist.All anyone can do is continue to test riders on a regular and surprise basis.If the test comes back clean then all any of us can assume is the rider is clean.
Brucegel19-10-2026 - Also, it's supposed to be hard to gain an advantage from drafting off Remco because he is so aero.Hills3319-10-2026
- How would stats back it up? You realise tactics involved could mean Vine saved his legs for a faster finish? Some riders can choose to go all out and fade later in the ride, others can hold steady state the whole way, and others can have a reserved start and power up later in the ride. You can't judge just by the stats unless you have power data to be able to prove Vine is riding faster even though he is putting out the same or less power (suggesting drafting). I'm sure the stats prove that Vine didn't cheat because UCI would monitor the stats to make sure this exact scenario doesn't happen (and disqualify them for drafting if the stats proved it).Pogboom19-10-2026
- Only one person would say such a thing here. Sorry to burst your bubble but I’m afraid that window of opportunity has now closed. You can beat some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can’t beat all of the people all of the time.Jumpyjohn19-10-2026
- Both prizes are actually pathetic, almost amateur like, not even covering the cost of participatingJumpyjohn19-10-2026
- It depends on how you define doping and you would do well to give your definition so we can see how against it you are. If you consider the use (as a hypothetical example) of a new beneficial artificial product unknown to anti-doping agencies ok without considering asking them if it would constitute doping if you told them about it then we’re never going to agree on who could be or couldn’t be doping and according to what threshold, moral, statistical, legal, comparative. In football even financial doping is now consideredJumpyjohn19-10-2026
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