Before the Curtain Rises on the Main Stage: Enric Mas’s Metamorphosis and Stage 12’s Reconnaissance Attack

The Vuelta has gone still, waiting for the decisive storm. While on stages 10 and 11 the Visma machine dominates the sprints with Matthew Brennan’s hat-trick and Wout van Aert’s conducting, the general classification is preparing for a reconnaissance attack on stage 12. Roglič’s patience, Decathlon CMA CGM’s plan, and Enric Mas, who returns to Calar Alto to banish the demons of the past and prove his new rank.

The drama of the great Grand Tours has one unwritten law: before the curtain rises on the decisive, brutal walls of the third week, a special, creeping silence settles over the peloton. It is not calm — it is mobilization before the storm, in which every GC contender watches a rival’s breathing, pedaling cadence and barely noticeable weaknesses.

The relatively local battles of stages 10 and 11 preserved the status quo in the general classification (despite the organizers’ hopes of splitting the peloton with crosswinds and echelons on stage 11, the wind didn’t blow and Movistar got through the day without any losses). Still, we cannot overlook the success of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, which has by now become a system. Young Matthew Brennan’s hat-trick is a vivid illustration of a true masterclass — a masterclass whose chief conductor is the world peloton’s mega-star and living legend, Wout van Aert! Don’t think Wout’s green jersey has slipped out of our sight — we are simply waiting patiently for the right moment, and as soon as that moment comes, we will certainly return to Wout!

Ahead of us today is stage 12. On paper it may not count as a “queen” stage, but in reality it will become the main tactical X-ray of the entire second week.

Stage 12: A Reconnaissance Attack and “Testing the Teeth”

No one should expect the favorites to launch a reckless long-range attack on stage 12 on a “now or never” basis. At this point in a Grand Tour, such an adventure would only mean destroying one’s own chances.

Instead, this terrain is ideal for reconnaissance attacks:

• Testing the strength of Movistar’s defense: rivals will try to push the pace on the intermediate climbs to the point where Enric’s ordinary helpers crack. The main goal is to see how early Mas will be left alone, without his personal domestiques.

• A test of nerves: the leader’s red jersey forces you to react to every small acceleration. Rivals will check whether Mas keeps his cool or starts reacting in panic to every secondary attack.

Roglič’s Patience and Decathlon CMA CGM’s New Plan

Two different forces are at work on this chessboard:

1. Primož Roglič’s masterly waiting game:

   The multiple Vuelta champion knows his own body’s reserves better than anyone. The Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe squad is not strong enough to shoulder the heavy burden of controlling the race, so Primož is protecting both the team and himself. He won’t rush anywhere — if bonus seconds or an easy finish “fall into his lap,” he won’t say no, but we will only see his main attacks in the third week. Until then, he will calmly watch the others make mistakes.

2. Decathlon CMA CGM Team regroups:

   After the lesson of stage 9, where Felix Gall’s excessive impetuousness and overconfidence cost him precious energy, the French team will rethink its tactics. Their aim is to wear Movistar down: sending dangerous riders into breakaways to force the Spanish team to work at the front of the peloton and burn energy.

Mas’s Metamorphosis: When the Red Jersey Gives You Wings

And yet the main hero of this drama is Enric Mas.

For years, Enric was often seen on Grand Tour podiums as the “eternal number two” — a rider who always held his place thanks to other people’s mistakes. But at this year’s Vuelta we are seeing the birth of a completely different Mas:

• A diesel pace and the beauty of great attacks:

  If the peloton consisted only of “diesel” riders, cycling would be a truly boring spectacle. “Attack, attack again and attack once more!” — this unbridled urge and these explosive assaults are the most beautiful, true face of great bike racing. But Mas’s art lies precisely in keeping his own metronomic calm in the middle of this storm. If Enric doesn’t follow his rivals’ explosive attacks and holds firmly to his own long, steady pace, breaking him in the mountains will become an extremely difficult task.

• The demons of Calar Alto — from the gruppetto to the red jersey:

  This metamorphosis is best captured by a story Enric himself recalled before stage 12. Almería’s brutal ascent — Calar Alto (2,160 m) — is linked in his memory to one of the worst nightmares of his career:

  “I have really bad memories from Calar Alto, because that day [in 2017] I was sick, with a high fever. My soigneur, Juan José Lobato, and I always joke about it: he was a sprinter and, in theory, I should have climbed much better than him, but that day we crawled up together, and he still teases me about it. I hope tomorrow I’ll enjoy the final climbs and keep the leader’s jersey at the top.”

  Nine years ago, a debutant wrecked by fever, fighting for survival in the gruppetto alongside a sprinter, is now returning to the same observatory as Movistar’s captain and race leader in the red jersey. And there is no greater motivation in sport than settling accounts face to face with your own past and your demons.

• A nation’s faith and a historic chance:

  Today all of Spain is watching Mas. Wearing the red jersey over Movistar’s iconic colors has turned the pressure from fear into enormous inspiration. After this Vuelta, Enric will be transformed into a different rider of a much higher rank — a champion who knows how to win.

If writing Tadej Pogačar’s historic triple was not meant to be this season, then for Spanish cycling, for Movistar and for Enric personally, a more emotional and deserved story simply could not be written.

The curtain has not yet risen, but behind the scenes a real war has already begun.

This article was prepared with Velorbola’s editorial perspective, with the help of modern analytical and digital tools.

Featured image: 01092026 – La Vuelta 2026 – Stage 10 – Alcaraz Elche de la Sierra (184,7 Km) – Enric MAS (MOVISTAR TEAM) © Cxcling