"Sometimes you give in, but he didn't want to" - Enric Mas on request to João Almeida on final Itzulia stage

The Itzulia Basque Country 2025 came to an end on Saturday with an iconic final stage, the queen stage. João Almeida took the victory and the win in the general classification as well, but alongside him on every climb was an aggressive Enric Mas who attacked lots of times and climbed dramatically in the Top10 all the way into second place.

The Movistar Team star was the rider who fought the hardest since he and the Portuguese rider left the rest of the favorites behind with 40 kilometers to go - taking into consideration that Mattias Skjelmose crashed on a descent and was hence unable to be in contention for the win. For the Spaniard the situation was unbeatable in his quest for the podium in the final general classification. However on such a strong day, the Spaniard looked to get the stage win, and attacked often, including the final ultra-steep 500-meter ascent where only the yellow jersey himself could follow.

In fact, Mas managed to complete the comeback, going from 8th place at the start of the day to be 2nd only behind Almeida himself. But this was already known when there were still 5 kilometers to go. For that reason, the Spaniard asked his rival while they were still riding to give him the stage victory. In a sprint his chances were always going to be low, and with Almeida already having a stage win and confirming the overall win, Mas tried to convince the Portuguese rider into a deal.

In words to Eurosport, Mas explained. "I asked Almeida, but with his team working very well... There are times when the rider or the team gives in, today they didn't want to, and well, we had to accept it," Mas began. Almeida then led out the sprint, but was comfortably in the lead to take the win in Eibar.

Mas had to settle for second once again: "I had to pull a lot to be able to get on the podium, he has kept a little more. I can only congratulate him. For my part I'm satisfied," he concluded.