'Enric Mas has been buried so often he should have a discount at the funeral parlour' Spanish newspaper MARCA wrote recently about the Vuelta a España leader. But the veteran Movistar leader's latest racing renaissance, stunning the opposition with an assured climbing display and outduelling of Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) at the summit of the Aitana is surely his finest revival yet.
After taking over as Vuelta leader on Saturday following Tadej Pogačar's crashout and abandon, Mas had followed unwritten race etiquette to the letter by refusing to wear the red jersey on the winner's podium, as a sign of respect for the Slovenian.
On stage 9, though, with Mas now clad in la roja and his team expected to control the toughest climbing day of the 2026 Vuelta to date, it was equally an unspoken given that his rivals would test the new race leader through the mountains of southern Valencia to the absolute limit.
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Sure enough, Decathlon CMA CGM tried their utmost to sink the veteran Spaniard on the interminable ascent to Aitana, and Mas was isolated by the time the tiny peloton of favourites moved onto the crunch final six kilometres of the climb. However, Decathlon's leader Felix Gall was also on his own at that point, as were all the other contenders, and if Mas' capacity to defend the lead was truly under the microscope from then on, so too were the major rivals' ability to challenge him.
Rather than crack, Mas more than rose to the occasion, responding time and again to the opposition's attacks and then finally making a searing move of his own with 3.9 kilometres to go. Even if Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), second overall, did come close, only Oscar Onley was able actually to follow him directly.
But by that point, in the closing kilometres of the Aitana ascent, the Spaniard was simply unstoppable. After dragging Onley to the line and then opening up his sprint from distance, the roar of delight as he crossed the line to clinch his first Grand Tour win since a stage of the Vuelta back in 2018 and confirm his status as race leader made it clear how important this victory was.
"Oscar is a very, very fast rider, but I had the chance, and from the team car they really handled me well psychologically on the climb, so I could finally do it," Mas said.
"The team deserve a 10 out of 10 for their work with me, and many thanks to the directors, telling me how they saw the others on the climb so I knew what to do.
"I'm a cautious kind of guy, and I've had lots of setbacks, but I think this is the best form I've had in my career.
"It's also one of my most beautiful moments of my career, one of the best since I won that stage and finished second overall in the Vuelta as a young rider back in 2018.”
Since then, Mas has seemingly always been condemned to a role as the 'nearly-man' in the Vuelta, taking four podium finishes overall, but never quite finding a pathway into red. On top of that, the Aitana marks the end of a massively complicated 15 months for Mas, forced to end his 2025 racing season prematurely due to being diagnosed with thrombophlebitis in his left leg, subsequently missing out on the Tour de France this July for the first time since 2018 and fighting to get back on terms ever since.
By winning such a prestigious stage just a day after taking his first-ever Grand Tour lead, for Mas, then it's no exaggeration to say that it's as if Christmas has arrived early. For the 31-year-old's team, too, having their first lead in their home race since Nairo Quintana held the top spot for a day in 2019 and then backing that up with a stage triumph could not be more timely, either.
"It's been a question of patience," Mas explained. "Since a year last July, I've had lots of difficult moments, but I went home, saw the family and they helped me get back on it.
"Then after a very difficult start to the season, this summer I had a training camp at altitude, went to San Sebastian and then the Vuelta a Burgos and I've started having lots of good moments. And this is definitely one of them.”
Before the Vuelta, Mas had refused to state if he had any specific objectives in the race, other than delivering the best performance possible. But already at Andorra, he managed to stay with the main GC favourites, and then on stage 6 there was a colossal moment of surprise when he succeeded in tracking down Pogačar close to the summit of the Puerto de El Bartolo, late in the stage.
Since then, Mas has gone from strength to strength, and by lying second overall when Pogačar was forced out of the race, the Movistar veteran was waiting in the wings, and now the lead is his to defend.
Asked if he needed the stage win to confirm that he was a rightful leader of the Vuelta, Mas replied, "I'm not sure, but now I'm proud of wearing it.”
"This morning, I talked it through with the team a lot, because obviously what happened [Pogačar abandoning] was a very great disappointment for the race. Tadej is the best rider in the world and to get the jersey like this, you know…but the team was great, and now I've seen what I can do, too."
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