Will Enric Mas and Mikel Landa to take advantage of Primoz Roglic suffering from back pain on long climbs?
Cycling
So far Primoz Roglic has been the strongest in the mountains of the Vuelta a Espana except for the day in Granada when Enric Mas was able to challenge him on the Hazallanas climb in a stage that featured 3 consecutive climbs. After that stage the Slovenian admitted that he still had back discomfort from his Tour de France crash and that it obviously increased the more time he spent pushing up the climb.
Yesterday Roglic proved that in short efforts he is unrivaled in a more than calm stage in which the peloton rode up to the 20-minute climb to Ancares. Today, however, things will start to change and we will find a much less hard but much longer 22-kilometer climb, after a day in which, although with just a third category climb on the route before Puerto de Leitariegos, we will be climbing for almost all of a stage that reaches 200 kilometers.
Enric Mas said yesterday that he was "empty". Did he eat badly or is it that his legs are starting to weaken? Today in stage 14 Leitariegos does not seem the most favorable climb to drop anyone in the general classification (22.8 kilometers at 4.5%).
Our colleagues from CiclismoAlDía believe that it'll be important for the Mallorcan (who continues to repeat to the press that he wants to win the Vuelta), should try to test the back of the Slovenian of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. Or at least push it to the limit ahead of the decisive day on the Cuito Negro tomorrow.
The other Spaniard who admitted he was going for the podium was Mikel Landa, who yesterday we saw (thanks to the lamentable way the race was conducted, we didn't really see him) enter as the best of the favorites after Primoz. He seems to be going for more and could also try to do so between now and Madrid.
We'll see, in cycling miraculous recoveries don't exist and the Tour crash means that Roglic, although he obviously has very good legs, has aches and pains that don't make him be at one hundred percent. And riding a three-week Vuelta doesn't make them go away: will he end up paying for it? Of course, today it seems the only option for him to take the red after what he saw in Ancares...
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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Brucegel14-11-2026 - I live in Maribor.PogiSloFans14-11-2026
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santiagobenites14-11-2026
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