Sport
cycling •
Even those who rarely win do so on occasion. Enric Mas’s Vuelta
After years of finishing in the top places, the Spanish rider has clinched the red jersey at the end of the Spanish stage race. A race that has taken us back to a pre-Pogačar era of cycling. With its pros and cons
Spain’s Enric Mas has won the 2026 Vuelta. Pictured here with his team at the finish of the final stage (AP photo, via LaPresse)
Sometimes even those who hardly ever win do win. Enric Mas won the 2026 Vuelta a España at the age of 31, after ten seasons as a professional during which he fought hard, finished in the money almost every time, but rarely celebrated victory. Before the start of the Spanish stage race, he had won six times: five sprint finishes and one overall classification. His relative unfamiliarity with victory was evident at the finish of the ninth stage of the Vuelta, when, at the summit of the Alto de Aitana, he beat Oscar Onley in the sprint: his celebration appeared awkward, overcome by a joy that was all too obvious, all too agitated – a joy that bore a striking resemblance to disbelief.
Enric Mas was not meant to win this Vuelta a España, because this Vuelta a España was destined for Tadej Pogačar. It was meant to be his chance to add the Spanish race to his Tour de France and Giro d’Italia victories and join Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome and Jonas Vingegaard among those who have won all three Grand Tours – a select group of cycling greats. Tadej Pogačar, however, crashed and left his dreams of victory lying on the tarmac.
Enric Mas did not fall, and whoever stays on their feet is always right. He earned this Vuelta on the road, and the Slovenian champion’s withdrawal does not detract from it. Not least because the Spanish rider was one of the few to close the gap on Pogačar: it happened on 27 August during the sixth stage. The world champion won that day anyway, because riders like Enric Mas almost never win.
Almost never. On occasion, they win the Vuelta a España.
A Vuelta that felt like a leap into a reality we didn’t recognise, or struggled to recognise. It was cycling, yet at the same time it wasn’t.
It had been quite a while since we’d witnessed a style of cycling characterised by patience and cunning to gain a few dozen seconds, following years of a style that emphasised the solitude of the ride. Some people appreciated it, others did not. Some were delighted to recognise the sport they had almost always watched, whilst others turned up their noses, accustomed as they were to great champions. It is certainly something different.
How different Enric Mas is, with that smile of his – part embarrassed, part incredulous – that he wore on the podium in Granada.