📺🎤 Rueda de prensa de @EnricMasNicolau en la 2ª jornada de descanso de #LaVuelta24 Ⓜ️🛋 Desde el @artiemhotels Asturias en Quintueles, este lunes @lavuelta
"The reality is that Ben O'Connor still has a significant advantage over me and Primoz Roglic" - Enric Mas assesses Red Jersey chances on Vuelta rest day
CyclingMonday, 02 September 2024 at 22:00
Enric Mas always seems to save his best legs for the Vuelta a Espana and 2024 is no different. At the second and final rest day, the Movistar Team leader sits 3rd overall, 2:23 behind the Red Jersey wearing Ben O'Connor.
“For now I am third, very close to second and fourth and, increasingly, closer to first. Hopefully this week we can make some progress and enjoy the last week of La Vuelta,” assesses the three time Vuelta a Espana runner-up in his rest day press conference. "Tomorrow is very tough, but there are five more days with two mountain finishes and the Madrid time trial, which will be key. We hope that the sensations remain the same as until now, that little by little we can take time away from the leader O'Connor and arrive in Madrid calmly so that we can go out to the time trial and fight for the maximum."
Whilst Ben O'Connor does certainly still hold the advantage in the fight for the Red Jersey, it's arguably Primoz Roglic who enters the final week as favourite, trailing the Australian leader of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale by just 1:03. "The day when we will know who is in the running for the general classification is stage 20," previews Mas. "There are three very tough stages left. Tomorrow we can draw some conclusions, but the reality will be seen after stage 20 and who can or cannot win the race."
"I don't know if I'm the strongest, I'm third in the general classification. If I was and we had also played our cards well, I would be in the lead. We have two very good riders ahead of us. If I'm the strongest, I have to be able to take the time they have on us. We'll find out on Sunday," continues the Spaniard. "Anything can happen in 15 kilometres, let alone in a week. The reality is that O'Connor still has a significant advantage over me and Roglic. He is the favourite for now and it is up to us to react."
"Strategically, we can play differently this week. Today we had a team meeting on the day off to analyse what awaits us this week and what we can do. It is clear that we can prepare for anything and that it does not happen and change our plans," he concludes.
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- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024