Enric Mas' maturity and calmness allowed him to capitalise on strong form, while his GC rivals have plenty of lessons to learn from the Vuelta a España – Philippa York analysis

After years of trying, the final week of the season's last Grand Tour has finally delivered satisfaction to three different riders in remarkably similar circumstances. Not that they could have been entirely certain at the start of the third week that by the end of this Vuelta a España they would be on the podium at all.

The most likely of the trio to predict success was always going to be Enric Mas, who since the exit of Tadej Pogačar on stage 8 had stepped into the role of race leader with remarkable maturity. Having finished runner-up on three other occasions, it no doubt gave him insight into how the race could be won, but having come so close before, there would have been some doubts that misfortune might rear its ugly head in the remaining days.

Movistar have a track record of messing up tactics, neglecting inter-team relationships and stifling ambitions to satisfy others’ egos – these issues were certainly in my mind while watching along.

Surprisingly, there were no tantrums or drama as the days ticked by and the pressure mounted; this remained a Movistar squad in complete agreement that the mission was to have Enric Mas in the maillot rojo at the conclusion of stage 21. Not by chance or good fortune or anything random, but by hard work, good tactical moves and believing that this was the year the Mallorcan, so often the plucky challenger, was the most complete of the GC riders.

Having watched previous editions of La Vuelta where the Spanish squad managed to remove all confidence from their best riders, it has been refreshing to see them learn from past errors and actually solidify around their team leader.

Already being the strongest climber of the GC group helped, but Mas producing a time trial performance that probably surprised even himself made the task of deciphering the two remaining mountain days so much easier. It also put more pressure on Primož Roglič and Felix Gall's shoulders, as they weren’t really fighting for the overall victory anymore; instead, they had to focus on each other.

A Grand Tour of learning for several GC contenders

For sure, Primož Roglič was going to try; the four-time champion knew how to win the overall, but the problem was the legs weren’t where he needed them to be for a spectacular reversal. However, the Slovenian has to be happy with his return from the injury that hampered his preparation in the run-up to the start in Monaco.

He showed, despite his 36 years, that he still is a force to be reckoned with and didn’t put a foot wrong in the three weeks of racing. Still ambitious, still competitive and a presence not to be dismissed.

Felix Gall, on the other hand, finished La Vuelta seemingly content with his lot, which you can’t argue with if you look at just the result. However, the manner in which Decathlon CMA CGM operated does raise several questions. Before the start, they would have immediately signed up for a podium place, understandably so, but when Pogačar left the race, the French squad didn’t seem to realise that they were competing for the overall title.

Gall lacked race craft, attacking at the wrong moments, missing moves when he ought to have been vigilant and generally accepting that he was doing rather well and that was good enough. The killer instinct Mas and Roglič possessed was absent from the Austrian. Already this season, at the Giro d’Italia, he had the opportunity to learn from Jonas Vingegaard about the art of dispatching rivals. But the lesson didn’t seem to have sunk in between the two events.

His and Decathlon’s Vuelta is a case of what might have been if they had a bit more ambition and clarity in the crucial moments. The final mountain-top finish was an example of what might have been if only Gall had committed earlier, and had he spent decent time on his TT bike, then he wouldn’t have lost so much time so needlessly.

He has the power but not the position to guarantee an acceptable performance. It might seem a harsh judgement, but all the riders he is competing with are better than him because, as he has said, he doesn’t like the discomfort of time trialling. A strange observation, considering there’s no such thing as a comfortable TT.

Richard Carapaz had a similarly average individual TT, but he countered that by being aggressive and using his experience to exploit the close marking between the top three. A bigger contrast in race craft and tactics you’ll rarely see from two teams closely matched – EF Education-EasyPost were always looking for and aware of opportunities whilst Decathlon CMA CGM retreated to defensive racing and, in the process, did a lot of the work they could have passed on to Movistar.

The French squad always blinked first when there were any hesitations, and as the race went on, everyone knew they would. Conversely, Movistar never really put a foot wrong.

For a long time it looked like Netcompany-Ineos had a rider capable of following Mas and company when they lit up the race, but ultimately Oscar Onley lacked last season's form from mid-race onwards. His TT was where it was expected to be, at just under a minute behind Roglič. However, the last two mountain stages were fatal to his podium chances. Whether it was too many setbacks, lingering effects of his early illness or a level of climbing that was a little bit too fast for him, Onley wasn’t where we thought he might be. The Vuelta demanded a degree of explosiveness, and the young Scot just didn’t have enough left by the end.

In contrast, Sepp Kuss never really entered the GC equation until the penultimate day and then jumped six places after slumbering outside the top-10 for most of the last week. This wasn’t vintage Kuss on spectacular form, though; he used his experience, tenacity and the collective strength of Visma-Lease a Bike to drag himself into the top five. This season is the second time he’s ridden all three Grand Tours, so you can excuse him for taking longer to get going and, unlike in 2023 when he won, the Dutch team were here with Wout Van Aert and Matthew Brennan to look after too.

The GC was always going to be an extra cherry on top of their sprint ambitions. They won’t be complaining after five stage wins for the young Brit and two victories and the points classification for the Belgian. Both of them were in epic form throughout.

Another Slovenian talent shines at La Vuelta

Also epic was Santiago Buitrago, who sought out the mountains classification and saw off the challenge of Van Aert but didn’t get his stage win despite being in all the right breaks. Done over by Marco Brenner in the second week and again by Eddie Dunbar in the third, at least it all turned out okay in the end, which wasn’t the case for Dunbar, who crashed on the dangerous approach to the final big climb of the race.

Tudor had a valid excuse for losing a rider in those circumstances, unlike Stefan Küng, who bailed out the day after winning the time trial. In the past, certain sprinters would do the same before the mountains. However, at least they pretended to have a bad knee or dodgy back.

The race organisers will have noted the lack of respect. The Swiss TT specialist beating Callum Thornley was almost forgivable until he packed his bags and scarpered.

Someone who did need to leave early was Mattias Skjelmose. He ought to have followed Mads Pedersen’s example and gone home to recover instead of flogging himself for a GC position he never looked likely to reach. Lidl-Trek had a below-par race by their standards.

As ever, there were some surprises. Cofidis and Bryan Coquard were competitive, and it’s been a while since that happened, and Groupama-FDJ United, not to be left out, also won a bunch sprint with Bastien Tronchon – a mini French revival in a race where they are often bystanders.

Jakob Omrzel appeared on our radar, looking very much like the next Slovenian youngster to amaze everyone. Only two riders in the overall top-10 won a stage: Enric Mas and Omrzel, who finished sixth overall, pushing Onley for the white jersey. He was decidedly nonplussed by his performances – quite remarkable and reminiscent of a certain Pogacar who first showed at the Spanish Grand Tour.

Uno-X Mobility did what they always do – organised, aggressive, but it hasn’t always paid off as well as it did at this Vuelta, with Andreas Leknessund outlasting Wout van Aert in the opening week after a ridiculously hard day out, and Tobias Johannessen finishing things off in Granada whole holding off another of the new names to watch, Alessandro Romele.

That last stage was a bizarre affair, neutralised for the final lap because it was too dangerous but fine for the previous three circuits. It didn’t really make much sense as a compromise.

And finally, to go with the feeling that this edition was a Spanish fiesta, Mikel Landa won the big mountain stage, easily the hardest day and raced until everyone finished on their knees. Landa is heading back to his roots at Euskaltel next season – tears of joy and relief in equal measure.

From being a Tadej Pogačar benefit race, the 81st Vuelta a España turned into a properly entertaining contest between riders not that far apart in ability. Enric Mas won because he had the best team, good tactics and a level of calm that let him exploit his return to top form.