From (Nearly) Zero to Hero: Enric Mas Has Had a Complicated Path to Vuelta Lead

This Vuelta a España has marked a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of Enric Mas, and Saturday’s stage 8 has been the most dramatic of all.

The Spaniard took the first Grand Tour leader’s jersey of his career when Tadej Pogačar crashed to the ground, the Slovenian clipping a rock with approximately 33km to go.

Mas had previously leaped to second overall when he was runner-up to Pogačar on stage 6, and will be as stunned as anyone else to have ended Saturday as race leader.

His first thoughts appeared to be for Pogačar and, as a mark of respect, he declined to wear the Maillot Rojo on the podium.

Instead he held it in his hands, displaying it rather than donning it, but will presumably sport it Sunday morning.

“We decided to make this gesture in honor of Tadej and his team,” he said. “So here I am here without the jersey.

“It’s a huge shame. First, that there are crashes; then, that it’s a crash like this; and finally, that it happened to Tadej. He was the one wearing the red jersey, and it’s a real shame.

“Obviously, I hope he recovers quickly. We still have a few races left, and I hope he can be in good shape for them,” he said.

Mas stunned Pogačar on stage 6 when he caught and passed him just before the summit of the Puerto el Bartolo. The Slovenian had attacked further down the climb and appeared to be moving away from all of his rivals, but Mas put in a huge recovery and closed up to him.

Few riders have ever caught a rampaging Pogačar and that was confirmation of Mas’ fine form. But, notwithstanding that, the world champion’s earlier successes in the race mean that the Spaniard ended the day 3:34 back.

He lost a further 16 seconds the following day and, until the crash, looked very unlikely to threaten for the race leadership.

He’s now thrust into red and will have all the dizzying attention that goes with that. He empathizes with the person previously in that position.

“Simply, he should stay calm,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t know what he has [in terms of injuries]. I’m sure he’ll be in the best hands, with the best doctors, and I hope he recovers as soon as possible.”

Pogačar has since been diagnosed with concussion and fractures to his neck and collarbone.

A glittering early career, then issues

Mas has had a complicated path to leadership of his country’s biggest race. He has long been recognized as one of Spain’s best riders, netting third on a stage in his Vuelta debut back in 2017 and then, one year later, winning a stage and finishing second overall.

He was also second in 2021 and 2022. The latter season also saw him win the Giro dell’Emilia and finish runner-up in a sprint to Pogačar in Il Lombardia.

However that early momentum disappeared in more recent seasons, despite third overall in the 2024 Vuelta. Mas crashed out of the 2023 Tour and was also a non-finisher in 2025, falling on the descent of the Múr-de-Bretagne.

He was subsequently diagnosed with thrombophlebitis, possibly as a result of the crash. This is a condition similar to varicose veins caused by a blood clot, and brought his season to a premature end. He underwent surgery last October to treat it and began rebuilding again.

However, despite taking second in his debut race this season, he had a relatively anonymous Giro d’Italia. That led to harsh criticism from team management. “The real tests are in the races and there, unfortunately, the mark he’s got is a fail,” Movistar boss Eusebio Unzué told AS in May.

He has presumably changed his tune now that his rider is leading the team’s home Grand Tour.

‘We have to go day by day’

The race now continues on Sunday with one of the toughest stages of the race, a six-climb sufferfest to the summit of the Alto de Aitana.

Mas’ gesture not to wear the leader’s jersey on the podium will presumably be a temporary one, and he will have all eyes on him in the the stage will be the first big test of his ability to hold on.

“We simply take on the responsibility tomorrow, as you’d expect. We’ll try to keep the jersey,” Mas confirmed.

“This changes everything. We have to go day by day and see how things to see if I can take this jersey for real and try to win this Vuelta.”

The 31 year old will begin the stage a solid one minute ahead of four-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) is at 1:11, while Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Onley and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) are between 2:15 and 2:22 behind.

It’s a solid buffer, but it’s still early in the race. He knows he has to just take things one day at a time, and to try to avoid the sort of bad luck which cost Pogačar his own chance.

“We have to see how the riders react and we will try to do things as we good as we can.”