Spain’s very own Enric Mas defended his claim to La Roja as the Vuelta a España concluded its second week on Sunday.
Mas and his Team Movistar moved defensively throughout the week, putting in a few seconds more from his closest rivals Felix Gall of Decathlon CMA CGM Team and Primož Roglič of Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe to tighten his lead.
The GC battle heated up in week two, with Mas trying to rake in crucial time before the race’s second individual time trial on Thursday, where surprise performances usually shake up the ranking.
Stage 15 ended safely for Mas on Sunday, but he admitted some stages did not go according to the team’s plan, though he remained positive.
“Not everything has gone like we wanted since last Sunday, but almost everything has been under control, so I’m happy,” he told reporters in a port-race interview.
“To be honest, I really like when we race in Spain. I feel a lot of support from the people and I hope it continues like this until Granada.”
Climbing prowess
Mas particularly showed his climbing prowess during mountainous stage 14 to prove he was the man to beat.
Roglič, who is aiming to snatch his fifth La Vuelta title, lost precious time during that stage, surrendering his second position to Gall with a gap of four seconds.
His team manager, Patxi Vila, told L’Equipe that Mas was going to be a challenge.
“So far, it has proven impossible to compete with Mas, but it’s not over until it’s over.”
“There is still a long way to go, but he is very strong and hard to beat.”
Youngsters take the wheel
Away from the GC fight, the second week of La Vuelta also registered several explosive wins for young riders.
Groupama-FDJ United’s Bastien Tronchon outsprinted the likes of Magnus Cort and Thibau Nys to take a surprising win in stage 10.
Slovenian rising star Jakob Omrzel of Bahrain – Victorious became the youngest Grand Tour stage winner since Celestino Prieto in the 1981 edition after soloing to victory in precarious stage 12.
Wonderkid Marco Brenner of Tudor also secured his maiden Grand Tour stage win in stage 14, outperforming other elite climbers to set up a duel with Santiago Buitrago, who currently wears the King of the Mountains jersey.
And in a dominating show of teamwork from Visma Lease-a-Bike, Matthew Brennan grabbed a hat-trick of wins after surging to victory in stage 11.
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Resurging Wout van Aert grabs redemption victories
But Visma had more to celebrate through Wout van Aert.
He came to La Vuelta looking for redemption following his devastating exit in 2024.
The earlier stages of the race saw the Belgian working mostly for his team, particularly for Brennan and his successful sprint runs.
It was clear, however, that van Aert had been aiming to secure the points classification jersey, hunting for points throughout the stages to tighten his grip on the green jersey.
Van Aert’s resurgence did not stop there.
In a swapped position, Brennan played the lead-out to help van Aert take stage 13 against his other sprint rivals.
Breakaway riders then tried their grit and luck in a shortened stage 15 due to the heat, but the peloton did not allow them to widen the gap by less than a minute with 50 kilometres to go.
Van Aert stayed close, eventually catching up with the front of the race until the stage opened up for a sprint, which the Belgian powered through to take his second victory in a week.
“[The team’s balance in La Vuelta 26] is amazing actually. Most of the days that we thought we were able to win, we won actually. That’s pretty impressive,” he said after the race.
“And on a stage like today, how we took control as a team is something to be really proud of. I have to be very grateful for the work of the boys again.”
With La Vuelta entering its final stretch on Tuesday, all eyes will be on Mas and whether he would be able to take home the Spanish title for the first time.
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