"We need more funds right now" - Enric Mas hopes for investment in Movistar to have domestiques capable of matching Jumbo-Visma

More money is flowing into cycling and some teams are accumulating enormous amounts of quality riders. Unfortunately however for other teams, it leaves the playing field quite unbalanced. After a Vuelta a Espana where he finished sixth, Enric Mas laments Movistar's inability to sign big support riders.

“The differences between Jumbo-Visma and us? We hope that a second important sponsor joins our team. We are all waiting for it and we hope that this happens as soon as possible," Mas told AS. "Everyone wants to compete on equal terms with their opponents and we need more funds right now. Eusebio Unzué has said it on several occasions: this is what we need to strengthen our team in all aspects."

Whilst INEOS Grenadiers remain a team of high budget, over the past few years UAE Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma have soared above the rest of the peloton by far when it comes to mountains. Besides having leaders such as Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, they have a whole array of very strong climbers and other types of riders in their rosters, which they use for extreme success both in the classics and Grand Tours. More and more the top teams sign the biggest young talents and premier domestiques, whilst teams whose budget does not rise struggle to keep their leaders on board.

Movistar is indeed a prime example of that, having lost Alejandro Valverde last year they signed Fernando Gaviria who has not been anywhere close to achieving the same results and Ruben Guerreiro. However they're losing Matteo Jorgenson this winter, one of the new stars in the peloton who developed in the Spanish team. No replacement is expected, the Spanish team have in fact not signed any riders for the 2024 season - no public announcement, at least.

Now at the Vuelta, the Spaniard felt this difference in team qualities quite abruptly. Whilst Jumbo-Visma finished first, second and third in the race, Mas was no match and except for Einer Rubio in a few summit finishes - where he wasn't even required to work - the 28-year old was largely isolated. This also meant Movistar simply did not have the firepower to make the race hard when they desired, and had to race trying to match their rivals when the mountains arrived.

“I still have three or four races on the calendar," he says. Last year he finished second in the Vuelta, and he hopes to come out of it with the same for he had last year which saw him win the Giro dell'Emilia and finish second at Il Lombardia. "My big goal between now and the end of the year is Il Lombardia and I'm already thinking about it. Now I have to rest, recover and prepare well for those one-day races that I really enjoy."