OPINION: Enric Mas sends a warning to Movistar Team from Switzerland: Find a plan B for the Tour de France
Cycling
Since finishing second in the 2022 Vuelta a España showing a great level against Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic the good Enric Mas has been able to achieve the same level. In fact, the best we've seen from the Movistar Team leader since then was fighting with Tadej Pogacar in a couple of stages of the Vuelta a Andalucía 2023. From then on, nothing at all.
CiclismoAlDia's Juan Larra analyses the topic... Last year was more than disappointing for the Spaniard: sixth in Tirreno Adriatico behind men like Lennard Kämna or Giulio Ciccone, fifth in the Itzulia behind Ion Izagirre or David Gaudu, 17th in the Flèche Wallonne, withdraw at the Tour de France and sixth overall in the Vuelta being the third best Spaniard after Juan Ayuso and Mikel Landa. In the Giro dell'Emilia, which he won in 2022, he finished fourth. In Lombardia (second in 2022) he was not able to finish on the top 10.
We could talk about a bad year, but 2024 didn't start any better (quite the contrary). He started his season late, entering directly into Tirreno-Adriatico in March, finishing with a discreet 12th place. He then improved somewhat in the Volta a Catalunya, although he could not get past fifth place 2:40 behind second place Mikel Landa (not counting the distance with Tadej Pogacar) and equal in time with Chris Harper. In Romandie he was sixth with men like Ilan Van Wilder or Florian Lipowitz ahead of him.
He could have the excuse in his first race on Swiss soil that there were no big climbs. He could have the excuse in Tirreno and Catalunya of being out of shape. But he has arrived at the Tour de Suisse and the sensations are the same. It seems that the rivals don't matter if they are Pogacar, Landa or Bernal, or if they are Ayuso and Rodriguez, or if they are like Adam Yates João Almeida or Mattias Skjelmose: Enric seems to move in mediocrity.
Yesterday, in the fourth stage of the Swiss race, the first high mountain stage, Enric was left out of the fight of the favorites. He entered the "comfortable" group with Oscar Onley, Felix Gall, Cian Uijtdebroeks and Matthew Riccitello: that seems to be his level. He couldn't follow the attacks of Adam Yates, Mattias Skjelmose, João Almeida and Egan Bernal...
Thus, he is seventh overall and his aspiration seems to be to return to a fifth place which he could be relatively comfortable but which would not do him any good at all in terms of regaining confidence.
If he is not able to maintain his level I think he is sending a very clear message to Movistar Team for the next Tour de France: do not make the mistake of taking an '8' to accompany me in order to fight for the overall, take a team with alternatives to fight for stages in as many terrains as possible.
We will see if Enric is able to improve his sensations in the remainder of the Tour de Suisse and if he is able to recover his best level in the Tour, a race in which he was fifth in 2020 and sixth in 2021: it is difficult to think of respecting those results nowadays...
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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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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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🇨🇭 #TourdeSuisse @EnricMasNicolau es 7º en la clasificación general de la Vuelta a Suiza tras el primer final en alto, a 1'17" de Adam Yates (UAD). El mallorquín tiene en el mismo tiempo a Onley (DFP); 2" por delante a Kelderman (TVL); medio minuto con Bernal (IGD); y 49" con
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