A completely devastated Enric Mas spoke to Spanish radio partners after losing four minutes in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France 2024. Movistar Team's leader in the Grande Boucle was taking one of the biggest sporting blows of his career, but he had the courage to face the press.
He made no excuses and made it clear that he had lost a lot of time over not having legs on the Col du Galibier to follow the best.
"A lot of time, the body has not responded, the forces were not going. I was not going today, you have to accept it and that's it," the Movistar leader said in a post-race interview. The Mallorcan is now 20th overall, 4:40 behind the leader, 3:50 from the podium, 3:26 from fifth place and 1:19 from the top 10. He was asked on Cope if he should now focus on trying to win stages. Mas, who has finished several times on the podium of the Vuelta a España in the past and looks to return to the Top10 of the Tour as he's done in previous years, responded:
"We'll see, the team will tell me. Thanks to the team, we have tried with Oier and it was not possible either. Little by little we are passing the days... I was strange all day... We'll see what we do, I have no idea. When we are calm in the hotel we will see what we do. The legs, the strength.. I wasn't going".
Javier Romo, Enric Mas' domestique, also gave his impressions in Cope after the finish: "The idea today was to get into the breakaway, Oier entered, then the group went very fast with UAE, the wind was very annoying and they were very aggressive in Galibier. First I tried to help Enric to prevent him from losing time. We'll have to keep fighting and we'll see what happens".
🇫🇷 #TDF2024 Tadej Pogacar (UAD) se impone en solitario en Valloire -4ª etapa- y retoma el liderato. @LazkanoOier subirá al podio como más Combativo del día tras su gran escapada hacia el Galibier. ✌🏼🐴 @EnricMasNicolau, 20º en la etapa a 4’40” del vencedor, concluye acompañado…
