Enric Mas's top GC finish at the Vuelta a España is in many ways no surprise, given that the Movistar leader has already finished second overall three times in his home Grand Tour. However, it was unclear how Mas would fare in his home race this August, as he started the Tour de France with lower-than-expected results but was much stronger in the closing stages. Nevertheless, so far Mas has shown great consistency in the 2024 Vuelta. The tactic of attacking the GC group whenever possible and shadowing Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) on other major climbs, such as Hasa Janas in Granada, has so far only failed to work on one key climb, Puerto Ancares. But despite losing a minute to Roglic on Ancares, Mas remains in third place overall, 3:01 behind race leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). And while he and the rest of the Vuelta Peloton will take on the next crunch stage and the gravity-defying summit finish in Quito Nel on Sunday, Movistar is fully confident that the man from Mallorca can still contend for the overall win. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step) are getting stronger every day, but we are in the same situation,” Movistar sport director Pablo Lastras told Cycling News before stage 14. [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] “

What brought about a change in Lastras' case was a heart-to-heart conversation with Eusebio Unzue, the sporting director of Caisse d'Epargne, a former sponsor of the Movistar team.

“We talked a great deal, we discussed everything. It was like a big wake-up call, no harm done, just a lot of good. The moral behind Mas' change in attitude, and his return in 2007, is something Lastras feels should be passed on to a younger generation of racers who have been racing at a high level since they were young. They're super prepared, but they're not enjoying themselves as riders,” he said. But once they start enjoying racing, everything will fall into place. In my case, I won a stage in the Benelux Tour in 2007, I won the Vuelta a Andalucía, and in 2011 I won a stage and a one-day lead in the Vuelta a España. But like I said, it's not about winning, it's about having fun. That's what's important.”