OPINION | Enric Mas should have raced the Giro d'Italia in view of the modest roster of stars beyond Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
Leaving aside Tadej Pogacar, clear favorite to win, the Giro d'Italia 2024 has one of the poorest startlists in its history in terms of classification riders. Tadej is not only a favorite because he is always a favorite in grand tours (except against Vingegaard), but also because the rivals are not even second level. We believe that Movistar Team could have changed their calendar plans and included Enric Mas in the Italian race.
And if you look at the list of "favorites" for the maglia rosa that the Giro itself proposes, beyond Geraint Thomas there is no respectable name according to CiclismoAlDia's Juan Larra. And the Welshman is a year older than in 2023, when he finished the race completely sunk in the decisive time trial against a Primoz Roglic who rode at half throttle.
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As third in discord the Corsa Rosa bets on Cian Uitdebroeks, whose start of season with Visma - Lease a Bike is being discreet and who last year was far from Enric in the Vuelta a España. Fourth is Ben O'Connor. The Australian is a great climber, but has been very unreliable in the last Tour de France, always failing in important stages, so we can not say that today he can put Pogacar in any trouble and Enric could not beat him.
The last "favorite" pointed out by the organization is Romain Bardet, who has long since "retired" from the fight for the general classification and has made it clear that he is going to the race to try to win a stage victory.
Taking a look at the list of participants we find names like Daniel Martinez, Antonio Tiberi, Alexey Lutsenko, Juan Pedro López or Jan Hirt, all cyclists inferior in grand tours to the Mallorcan.
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MISSED OPPORTUNITY
Thus, we think that Movistar Team could have bet on the Colombian block for the Tour de France (although we do not know if ASO would have been happy to see Nairo back in the Grande Boucle) and on Enric in a Giro in which he would have been a clear favorite for the podium.
That would also give him more time to prepare for what is always his big goal every year, a Vuelta a España in which he is sure to find a much more complicated line-up than he would have found in a Corsa Rosa that without names like Primoz Roglic or Remco Evenepoel is much more lackluster than in 2023 despite the presence of Tadej Pogacar.
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Well I just watched this and I thought it was great! If you’re a Pogi fan, like me, you’ll enjoy it. Even if you’re not necessarily a Pogi fan I still recommend it. There’s plenty of new stuff I didn’t know about and I’m a Pogi-maniac! Nice interviews with Pogi & Matteo Trentin too.Lozza14-11-2026
- Well I just watched this and I thought it was great! If you’re a Pogi fan, like me, you’ll enjoy it. Even if you’re not necessarily a Pogi fan I still recommend it. There’s plenty of new stuff I didn’t know about and I’m a Pogi-maniac! Nice interviews with Pogi & Matteo Trentin too. So Zonnewotsit can stick it!Lozza14-11-2026
- Who’s gifting grand tours at UAE? Defo not Pogi! Stage wins maybe.Lozza13-11-2026
- Sepp Kuss Vuelta 2023.Lozza13-11-2026
- they have no expertise with classics, they have no leaders in classics. the classics is dominated by the few Fuori Classe riders where other riders are left with scraps. the Hiring , the salaries dont make sense at all. Same problem as Man Utd. over paid players, egos, very little performanceabstractengineer13-11-2026
- Contract year means you gotta win, at least collect UCI points, helping be damnedabstractengineer13-11-2026
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- I'm not trying to argue with you but if you didn't see Del Toro struggling in the Tour I'll pay for some glasses for you lol. He struggled so much that Tadej missed winning stage 15, Tadej also dropped the pace along some stages to help Del Toro hold onto the podium. Now he may have been sick, that is a possibility, but he definitely struggled. You have a nice weekend as well brother.awp13-11-2026
- Im not copmaring him to jonas palmares...but current level of power and again like you even pointed out 19sec difference and on other ocassions del toro dropping him. Its evidently their close and based on both their different trajectory its self explanatory...where we are next year.And Del Toro didnt struggle if getting a podium in his first TDF at 22 year old is struggling you sure dont know how to be objective haha. But have a good weekend this is so dumb to discuss as its not even a discussin in reality as facts speak for themselves of what were actually speaking of - and self explanatory.miguel13-11-2026
- fingers crossed. my son has a poster of wout and mathieu battling each other at the beach at ostend up in his room. would be great to see them again there!Ketterechts13-11-2026
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