Enric Mas (Movistar) said he did not have an outstanding time trial Tuesday at the Vuelta a España, but was still happy to have limited the damage to his GC rivals.

"I'm happy, the TT wasn't too bad," said Mas, who summed up stage 10 in somewhat contradictory terms, finishing 10th, 1:51 behind winner Lemko Evenpole (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl) in the stage.

On the plus side, however, he remained on the provisional GC podium, although he dropped to third place, nearly a minute behind Primoš Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).

Even if Evenpoel, who started 2 minutes behind, caught the masses on the small climbs and long descents leading up to the finish in downtown Alicante.

But Mas, who was 3:03 behind Evenpoel in the overall, said he was not surprised that Evenpoel "flew." He confirmed that he is in very good shape," he told reporters after the race.

In the final third of the time trial, he was nearly a minute ahead of the Belgian.

"But this was a 'for them' time trial. There weren't that many climbs and it wasn't that tough.

After Wednesday's flat 11th stage down to the natural park of Cabo de Gato in southeastern Spain, Mas will return to theoretically more favorable terrain in the mountains of Andalusia after Thursday.

Despite two podium finishes in the Vuelta following the Tour de France, Mas has kept his expectations for the Vuelta to a minimum. And while he has been riding well so far in his quest for at least a third podium, his attitude toward the second half of the Spanish Grand Tour, his toughest stage to date, has remained as unremarkable as ever.

"Tomorrow [Wednesday] is a very flat day, and on Thursday we'll see what happens next. We're going to give it our best."