Spain's last Vuelta a España winner Alberto Contador has paid tribute to the rider set to be his successor this Sunday in Granada, with Enric Mas just hours away from overall victory in his home Grand Tour.
Contador took Spain's previous Vuelta win in 2014, just a few months after breaking his tibia at the Tour de France, a race he looked set to win for a third time.
Following his injury, 'El Pistolero' bounced back on home soil, taking a resounding triumph ahead of the rider who dominated Grand Tours that decade, Chris Froome.
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Mas' victory comes after the top rider in the world, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), had to pull out of the Vuelta after crashing and breaking his collarbone on stage 8, when he was comfortably leading the race and looked set to hold top spot all the way to the finish.
However, as Contador pointed out, Mas mounted a solid defence of the red jersey after inheriting the lead when Pogačar pulled out, and after four podium finishes in the Vuelta, his victory is well deserved.
"When we have riders like [Jonas] Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Pogačar in a Grand Tour, they practically block it," Contador told AS. "And that's normal.
"They are very consistent riders who don't have off-days, and in that sense, they limit things a lot.
"But there's a whole line of riders who want to be up there in the next spot available, second overall, and this time a Grand Tour lead became 'vacant', and Enric seized that opportunity.
"That's not a gift; it's thanks to his hard work and his form. He was the strongest."
Quite apart from his physical condition, Contador argued that Mas' ability to keep himself from getting distracted by social media and external noise was an important factor in staying on track and maintaining a firm grip overall all the way from stage 8 to the finish in Granada.
"To do that [win the Vuelta], you have to stay strong, believe in yourself and your own possibilities, and detach yourself from what people are saying. That's easier said than done these days because of social media, but Enric's a good example of how to achieve that."
Mas is ending an 11-year drought of Grand Tour wins for Spain, and 12 years without any Spanish triumphs in the Vuelta a España – by far the longest in its history, with the previous biggest gap being the near-decade between Angelino Soler's victory in 1961 and Luis Ocaña's in 1970.
"I didn't expect it to be so long because at that point [2014] we were part of a generation that won a lot of races," Contador said. "If it wasn't one rider it was another; we were favourites in the Worlds and in the Grand Tours, even in Classics, and we'd taken quite a few Tours [de France] in a short space of time. It was normal to think that we'd continue with that run of success."
Instead, over a decade has passed, and it has taken Mas, 31 years old and once seen as Contador's heir apparent, to end the lengthy absence of Spanish Grand Tour wins. Contador recollected that Mas had shown considerable promise as a young racer, riding with Contador's own foundation before turning pro.
As a rookie professional in 2017, Mas also helped Contador win his own last stage of the Vuelta, on the Angliru – "and this despite being told by his [then] team not to do that."
"I knew he had class and talent," Contador told AS. "Then every rider evolves as they do, and in the case of Enric it was really fast; he took second in the 2018 Vuelta. After that, as he failed to complete the job [and win]… you know what this sport is like. It seems like if you don't win, nothing is worth anything, and that's why, by winning this Vuelta, cycling is doing right by Enric Mas."
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