"The podium of a Grand Tour..." - Movistar preparing Enric Mas for return to his level ahead of Giro d'Italia

Pablo Lastras, Movistar Team sports director, reflects in an interview with Diario AS on several angles of the season, group management, the state of modern cycling, and the situation of various riders in the team. He speaks about Enric Mas and Fernando Gaviria.

“Yes, the truth is we’ve been a very winning team, still a winning team. Not getting victories makes you think hard about what we’re doing wrong, or where we can improve. So we get to work quickly, and once you do that, you get closer until you finally land it," Lastras said on the impact of going without victories and what it means to break that cycle "Hopefully Raúl (García Pierna)’s victory is the launchpad for what’s coming next. But yes, above all, it’s like, wow, so much effort, and you see the lads with that hint of frustration. They’re very competitive. This is elite sport.”

Going deeper into the sporting and emotional value of victory, he adds: “Obviously, winning makes everything make sense. Beyond doing things well and with care, if you also win, that’s the goal. Above all, from a broader, sporting perspective.”

The team has had great leaders such as Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana at their very prime, riders who would win world championships titles, monuments and Grand Tours for several years even with the competition of Team Sky at the time. But times have changed and so have the team budgets. The Spanish team is far from the lead now and has no chance of replicating their success of the past.

“Financially, of course, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense for teams to come and make that extra economic effort. So choose the calendar well, place things right—start of the season, end of the season—like Canada, Wanchi, great. If more markets open up, even better.”

The DS was asked about Fernando Gaviria's departure from the team but kept it short when addressing the Colombian: “Fernando gave us a lot. We wish he’d given us more, and we wish him the best—at least from me personally, and from management too—in his new chapter at Caja Rural.”

The team is still hoping for a return to a good level from Enric Mas, who ended his season last summer at the Tour de France with an injury that kept him off the bike for months. The Spaniard has struggled in the opening races of the season but is aiming to be back to his best at the Giro d'Italia where he is racing for the first time. A recent training crash prevented him from following his initial schedule.

“Yes, let me tell you, he was keen to come here. He was in great shape for the UAE Tour. After the training crash, he’s obviously not here, right? He was asking questions, and when a rider of Enric’s quality starts asking, it’s because he’s very good. He wanted to be here, shoulder to shoulder with the best. That was the plan for Enric".

"When a rider chases you—not the other way around—when you don’t have to insist, ‘come on, check the roadbook,’ and instead he’s the one saying, ‘how’s this, send me that, give me a link’… He was coming prepared. He was recovered. I think he’s left that behind and is thinking about 2026 to truly return to his level, which is the podium of a Grand Tour. He’s ambitious, still ambitious. Given his age and Grand Tour palmarès, he keeps going. That, in turn, pushes you to improve every day, find your best version, and it energizes the staff and the riders.”