Movistar rider refuses to crack in brutal mountain test
Mas will be first Spanish winner since Contador in 2014
Enric Mas all but secured overall victory in the Vuelta a España when he survived a brutal penultimate stage on the sun-baked slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The 31-year-old Movistar rider spent most of the 186km stage in a group alongside Primoz Roglic, Felix Gall and Richard Carapaz – the only men who could deny him the red jersey – and simply refused to crack.
Looking perfectly in control up the steep and winding final 9km climb to Collado del Alguacil, Mas comfortably protected the 1min 37sec advantage he had held over Roglic after 19 stages and even stretched his lead at the finish.
