“Power, position and that’s it” - Enric Mas puts maiden Grand Tour dream on the line against Primoz Roglic in decisive Vuelta time trial
Cycling
Enric Mas will carry the strongest Grand Tour position of his career into a time trial that could transform the battle for the 2026 Vuelta a Espana.
After finishing runner-up in his home race three times, the Movistar leader holds a 2:10 advantage over four-time winner Primoz Roglic before Thursday’s 32.1-kilometre test.
Mas completed Stage 17 safely inside the peloton as Matthew Brennan sprinted to his fifth victory of the race in Sevilla. Movistar protected the red jersey when crosswinds briefly divided the bunch and again surrounded its leader before the five-kilometre safety point.
“I’m good. I think we did a perfect job yesterday and today,” Mas said after the finish. “We have to look to tomorrow, and the day after, and then the day after. I’m confident.”
Roglic targets red in his strongest discipline
Stage 18 runs from El Puerto de Santa Maria to Jerez de la Frontera on a largely flat course with few corners. There will be limited opportunity to recover between accelerations, placing the emphasis on sustained speed and aerodynamics rather than technical bike handling. “It is quite flat and there are not a lot of corners,” Mas assessed. “We have to be concentrated on the power, the position and that’s it.”
Roglic has consistently been the faster of the pair against the clock. Their only time-trial meeting of 2026 came over 23.7 kilometres at the Tour de Suisse, where the Slovenian gained 1:17 on Mas.
Across a comparable 33-kilometre test at the 2025 Tour de France, Roglic finished 1:38 ahead. Repeating either margin in Jerez would leave Mas in red, but with much of the advantage he has built through the mountains removed before the final three stages.
Roglic is also pursuing a record fifth Vuelta victory. He began the race with uncertainty surrounding his condition after a training crash disrupted his preparation, but reached the decisive time trial still within striking distance of Mas.
The Spaniard has reached this confrontation after repeatedly proving stronger in the mountains. His attacks at Calar Alto and Sierra de la Pandera helped increase the gap to Roglic, giving him a considerably larger margin than he held when inheriting red following Tadej Pogacar’s withdrawal. Asked to define a successful result in Jerez, Mas kept the requirement simple: “A good result would be to keep the red jersey.”
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Gall faces battle to retain second
Mas will start last as the race leader, but the closest contest could unfold immediately behind him. Felix Gall sits second overall at 2:06, only four seconds ahead of Roglic.
Richard Carapaz begins the stage fourth at 4:24, while Oscar Onley is fifth at 5:44. Onley must also protect a 30-second advantage over Jakob Omrzel in the youth classification, giving the time trial consequences throughout the upper reaches of the standings.
Jerez will not provide the final judgement on Mas’s title bid. The summit finishes at Penas Blancas and Collado de Aguacil still give the climbers two opportunities to overturn any time lost before the race concludes in Granada.
Mas will nevertheless leave the start ramp knowing that Roglic has routinely taken more than a minute from him over shorter or comparable distances. Retaining a meaningful portion of his 2:10 advantage would leave the Spaniard three stages away from his first Grand Tour victory, while a major swing towards Roglic would reopen the entire Vuelta.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Tis beyond your comprehension fine sir so best not to look on with blind eyes to THE GOATS greatness.
Brucegel09-11-2026 - McNulty winning was beneficial in ensuring the rainbow jersey would not remain winless
Front24209-11-2026 - Eccelente! That's 7 riders in total in Red Bull who come from the devo team, 8 if you include Lipo
Rafionain-Glas09-11-2026 - again, nothing is going to be resolved. it is a discussion board. I simply said I didn't see how MS impeded LBs sprint. the UCI doesn't care about my thoughts, and I am really not that emotionally invested in it.mij09-11-2026
- provoke change, lol. this is a discussion board. nothing is going to change by what I say here. just commenting that it didn't look like MS impeded Brand. beyond that not trying to go too deep.mij09-11-2026
- as excellent as maga rednecks chloe dygert (and quinn simmons)?Ketterechts09-11-2026
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