The upside to the list of Giro d’Italia general classification favourites thinning out by the day is that it opens up the possibility for other lesser-fancied riders to spring a surprise. Including Enric Mas.

Long ridiculed by even his home supporters, despite boasting a record of four podium finishes in his six last participations at the Vuelta a España, and without a win of any kind since he beat Tadej Pogačar in an uphill sprint at the 2022 Giro dell’Emilia (yes, that really happened), Mas will take part in the Corsa Rosa for the first time in his career. 

If that’s a peculiar stat given his GC expertise and his longevity in the peloton, there’s an easy answer as to why it’s the case: since joining Movistar from Deceuninck-Quick-Step in 2022, he has been their poster boy at the Vuelta and the Tour de France – his team’s sponsors most important races. “He’s had to do the Tour in the past and he's had some really good Tours and also had some crashes while there,” Movistar sports director Matt White told Rouleur. “But Enric wanted a change and was keen on the Giro.”

It was the winter arrival of Cian Uijtdebroeks to the Spanish team that freed 31-year-old Mas up, meaning this summer he will forgo the Tour for the first time since 2018 and instead lead Movistar at the Giro before returning to the Vuelta. In the absence of João Almeida and Richard Carapaz, Mas will sit alongside Giulio Pellizzari, Adam Yates, Ben O’Connor and Egan Bernal as Jonas Vingegaard’s likely closest challengers.

“Enric is really excited about going to the Giro as he’s never done it before,” White explained. “And for his characteristics, it’s a race that suits him well. Enric’s forte is performing well at the back end of Grand Tours: the Giro, no matter where it starts or finishes, is always backloaded.”

The Giro gets underway this Friday on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. It will make landfall in Italy on stage four, but there are no major climbs until stage seven’s finish atop Blockhaus. Mas has had a very disrupted period of late, abandoning the Tour on stage 18 last year, and eventually developing thrombophlebitis – a blood clot in the leg veins. He returned to competition in January, but has only raced 10 days all season. A gentle opening week of the Giro, then, is what Mas requires. “If we started with a key mountain stage in the first two or three days off the back of little competition, it wouldn’t have been the best idea,” White said.

“But this year the first real key stage is Blockhaus, a week in. Bulgaria shouldn’t be too challenging, then there’s a rest day for the riders, and then they’ve got a few more days in Italy to ride into the race. Even if anyone isn’t on top form at Blockhaus, they can limit their losses on the climb and focus on what’s next as the race has a lot harder climbs towards the back end.”

Read more: Giro d’Italia 2026 route: Bulgaria, a 40km time trial and a monstrous final week

Mas makes his debut at the Giro d'Italia (Image: ASO/Unipublic)

Mas’s best Tour result was fifth in 2020, but with the domination of Pogačar and Vingegaard, riders like Mas haven’t really had much of a look in in the fight for the yellow jersey. They’ve instead been scrapping for minor spots. The Giro is often very different though. It’s less formulated, more unpredictable – and that can aid the likes of Mas.

“Everyone knows that no matter what teams there are, you can’t control the Giro like you can control the Tour and Vuelta,” White continued. “Many teams have tried, but not many have succeeded. That style of controlling the race from start to finish, like we used to see with Team Sky, doesn’t work at the Giro because it’s a very different dynamic to the Tour. 

“There’s extreme hot and cold weather at the Giro. The mountain stages are also very different, with higher altitude, more brutal climbs, and typically the Giro has three or four mountain stages that are each harder than the hardest Tour stage. Very few Tour stages have more than 4,000m of climbing, whereas in the Giro there’s always at least one crazy hard stage of 5,000m+. The demands are different and that’s what excites me about Enric. Long, tough climbs is what he’s good at, and he’s quite accustomed to the high altitude, too. If he’s in peak form in the final week, we’ll see what he can do.”

The stop-start nature of Mas’s winter and spring hasn’t been ideal, White admitted, but he’s not concerned that the Mallorcan will be on the backfoot too much. “He would have liked a different preparation, of course, but it is what it is,” White said. “It’s cycling – these things happen. He goes into a good place and he’s all systems go.”

White pinpointed O’Connor and Bernal as Mas’s main rivals for the podium spot, with he and most others assuming that barring injury or illness Vingegaard should coast towards the pink jersey. “Look, Vingegaard's the favourite – that’s clear,” White said. “Then you’ve got the other group of guys fighting for the podium, and Enric is in that group. The top-five is a realistic target for him.”