ATTITUDE + LEGS. It was a fantastic display from Enric Mas in the late part of the 2022 season. Physically and mentally struck by a series of crashes in Tirreno-Adriatico, the Itzulia Basque Country and the Critérium du Dauphiné, which hampered his condition heading into a Tour de France he had to leave with covid, the Spaniard bounced back gloriously at La Vuelta. He took 2nd overall -his third podium finish in the race- after showing himself as the fastest in the mountains, even ahead of big rival and eventual winner Remco Evenepoel. However, the best was yet to come. An offensive spirit never seen and excellent performances saw him taking a famous victory in the Giro dell’Emilia and finishing 2nd at Il Lombardia, only behind Tadej Pogacar. The Movistar Team has a great leader in him for the upcoming years.

TOP-LEVEL WINS. Other than his three podiums in La Vuelta, and fifth- (2020) and sixth-place (2021) GC finishes in the TDF, Enric has already some prestigious wins to his palmarès, in the Itzulia -he won in no less than the Santuario de Arrate, in his Deceuninck years-, the Tour of Guangxi -took GC honours at the 2019 race- or the Vuelta a España, beating all race contenders atop La Gallina en route to his first second-place finish. Before the 2022 Giro dell’Emilia, he opened his Movistar Team account at the Queen stage of the 2021 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

THE BEST SCHOOLS. Mas’s class and quality cannot be talked through without mentioning the two structures which saw him grow before taking the WT leap. At the Fundación Alberto Contador -whose famous backer doesn’t doubt one bit about mentioning Mas as the biggest Spanish prospect-, the Mallorca native honed in on his racecraft before jumping into Patrick Lefévère’s boat: first with its development team -Klein Constantia-, then with now-called Soudal – Quick Step.