Enric Mas Rising Star

[Akuryo]

In that case Sabatini is a lock, too.

 

[Akuryo]

It had a reason why he moved from Mallorca to Andorra

"Entrenando en altura en Andorra / High-altitude training in Andorra"

 

[Cinemaniak]

I expect something like Hodeg, Jakobsen, Serry, Devenyns, Capecchi and maybe De Plus,

Surely not both of them? It's a bit of competition between them I fear. Jakobsen being the bigger talent and (classic) pure, raw sprinting ability and Hodeg more of a 'Freire' perhaps.

 

[perico]

Currently 13th overall. 42 seconds off Kwiat.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Currently 13th overall. 42 seconds off Kwiat.

Good start. Tomorrow will tell us if he can challenge for top-5

 

[Gigs_98]

He looked strong today but I'm slightly disappointed with how defensive he was. Always at the back of the group and neither pulling (understandable) nor attacking (less understandable) when the group slowed down. Anyway, he entered the top 10 and I'm hoping for more good performances in the coming weeks.

 

[shalgo]

He looked strong today but I'm slightly disappointed with how defensive he was. Always at the back of the group and neither pulling (understandable) nor attacking (less understandable) when the group slowed down. Anyway, he entered the top 10 and I'm hoping for more good performances in the coming weeks.

I think it is reasonable for him to ride cautiously in the early stages of the first GT he will ride for GC. If he is still feeling good later in the race, then he can attack. If there had been a stage win on the line today, perhaps that would have been different, but why risk so much to get 10-15 seconds?

 

[perico]

He looked strong today but I'm slightly disappointed with how defensive he was. Always at the back of the group and neither pulling (understandable) nor attacking (less understandable) when the group slowed down. Anyway, he entered the top 10 and I'm hoping for more good performances in the coming weeks.

I think it is reasonable for him to ride cautiously in the early stages of the first GT he will ride for GC. If he is still feeling good later in the race, then he can attack. If there had been a stage win on the line today, perhaps that would have been different, but why risk so much to get 10-15 seconds?

Yeah I agree, especially since his prep was thrown off by the knee problems. Probably needed to prove to himself that he was in good shape. Needs to work on positioning, but had no trouble closing the gaps... much like The Great One.

 

[LaFlorecita]

At times I was willing him to move a bit further to the front of the pack, but in the end he survived just fine. The legs seem to be responding. Maybe he can try an attack on Sunday.

 

[perico]

Re:

At times I was willing him to move a bit further to the front of the pack, but in the end he survived just fine. The legs seem to be responding. Maybe he can try an attack on Sunday.

While being out of position at times, he jumped the gaps easily. I was happy with his performance.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Damn, lost almost 1 minute today. Not ideal, but at the same time he managed to minimize his losses quite well. Still, hopefully it was just an off-day and not an indication of his shape.

 

[Gigs_98]

Ofc we shouldn't jump to conclusions too early but let's just say, I fear this Vuelta will be the confirmation that he is not the next spanish super climber in the making.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Ofc we shouldn't jump to conclusions too early but let's just say, I fear this Vuelta will be the confirmation that he is not the next spanish super climber in the making.

Oh come on, he's shown his talent plenty of times and now he has one bad day and suddenly we're going to be all pessimistic? Even if he can't finish high up on GC this Vuelta that doesn't mean anything about the rest of his career.

 

[Gigs_98]

Ofc we shouldn't jump to conclusions too early but let's just say, I fear this Vuelta will be the confirmation that he is not the next spanish super climber in the making.

Oh come on, he's shown his talent plenty of times and now he has one bad day and suddenly we're going to be all pessimistic? Even if he can't finish high up on GC this Vuelta that doesn't mean anything about the rest of his career.

As I wrote I don't want to jump to conclusions yet, it's just that I fear he won't fulfill the expectations for this vuelta. And I disagree that that wouldn't mean anything. You are right that Mas has shown great climbing before, especially in the vuelta al pais vasco, but that was one breakaway win in a preparation race. It was mightily impressive but if that ends up being his most impressive performance of the year he showed progression from last year but not the kind of progression one would expect from a future gt winner. It's just that the climbers who were seen as future stars when they were still very young rarely have a slow progression and then suddenly turn great from one year to another. For the same reason I wrote after Soler's PN victory that I saw that race as confirmation that he will struggle to become a gt winner. Soler was good but not as good as you'd expect a future gt winner with 24 years.

 

[Kwibus]

QS is one of the best teams, but not for developing gc riders.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

QS is one of the best teams, but not for developing gc riders.

Yes, in a way. On the bright side, there usually is little competition for GC guys in the squad. In the Vuelta, it's him and De Plus. They can both take a shot at GC, there is no "big fish" in the team for whom they have to work and sacrifice their chances. So it depends on how you look at it. He gets a lot of freedom at QS just because there is no "top dog" GC contender in the team. It also means there is little support both in the team as well as the entourage for GC contenders unfortunately.

But neither Mas nor De Plus have had an easy season. For De Plus a top 15 in GC would be good, for Mas, maybe a top 10 to 12. Can't expect more given the circumstances and what happened the past months i think. That being said, i don't see a future GT winner in either of them, personally. Even if they're only 22 and 23 years old.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Ofc we shouldn't jump to conclusions too early but let's just say, I fear this Vuelta will be the confirmation that he is not the next spanish super climber in the making.

Oh come on, he's shown his talent plenty of times and now he has one bad day and suddenly we're going to be all pessimistic? Even if he can't finish high up on GC this Vuelta that doesn't mean anything about the rest of his career.

As I wrote I don't want to jump to conclusions yet, it's just that I fear he won't fulfill the expectations for this vuelta. And I disagree that that wouldn't mean anything. You are right that Mas has shown great climbing before, especially in the vuelta al pais vasco, but that was one breakaway win in a preparation race. It was mightily impressive but if that ends up being his most impressive performance of the year he showed progression from last year but not the kind of progression one would expect from a future gt winner. It's just that the climbers who were seen as future stars when they were still very young rarely have a slow progression and then suddenly turn great from one year to another. For the same reason I wrote after Soler's PN victory that I saw that race as confirmation that he will struggle to become a gt winner. Soler was good but not as good as you'd expect a future gt winner with 24 years.

I don't see him as a future GT winner. I see him becoming a very respectable GC climbers who'll win mountain stages, some one-week stage races and might have a shot at winning a GT at some point with some luck, but will more likely be a top-10 contender.

 

[Taxus4a]

Ofc we shouldn't jump to conclusions too early but let's just say, I fear this Vuelta will be the confirmation that he is not the next spanish super climber in the making.

Oh come on, he's shown his talent plenty of times and now he has one bad day and suddenly we're going to be all pessimistic? Even if he can't finish high up on GC this Vuelta that doesn't mean anything about the rest of his career.

As I wrote I don't want to jump to conclusions yet, it's just that I fear he won't fulfill the expectations for this vuelta. And I disagree that that wouldn't mean anything. You are right that Mas has shown great climbing before, especially in the vuelta al pais vasco, but that was one breakaway win in a preparation race. It was mightily impressive but if that ends up being his most impressive performance of the year he showed progression from last year but not the kind of progression one would expect from a future gt winner. It's just that the climbers who were seen as future stars when they were still very young rarely have a slow progression and then suddenly turn great from one year to another. For the same reason I wrote after Soler's PN victory that I saw that race as confirmation that he will struggle to become a gt winner. Soler was good but not as good as you'd expect a future gt winner with 24 years.

I don't see him as a future GT winner. I see him becoming a very respectable GC climbers who'll win mountain stages, some one-week stage races and might have a shot at winning a GT at some point with some luck, but will more likely be a top-10 contender.

I think he could get the level of Contador post 2011, so to win a 3 weeks race if the best riders are out of in bad shape. Of course the same as Contador, not the Tour. enric Mas has showed a impressive level so far for his age, as Contador did.

Contador was 31 in his first Tour, he didnt work for anybody, as Mas is ot working as well. I thing Mas will be top 20, wich is similar.
Anyway I think Contador was a better rider, he has difficult to get that level, but he on the way so far.

 

[SafeBet]

Of all the riders who won a GT in the past 15 years who managed to finish top10 in a GT at 24 years or less?

 

[LaFlorecita]

I think he could get the level of Contador post 2011, so to win a 3 weeks race if the best riders are out of in bad shape. Of course the same as Contador, not the Tour. enric Mas has showed a impressive level so far for his age, as Contador did.

Contador was 31 in his first Tour, he didnt work for anybody, as Mas is ot working as well. I thing Mas will be top 20, wich is similar.
Anyway I think Contador was a better rider, he has difficult to get that level, but he on the way so far.

Jesus Christ.

 

[Gigs_98]

Ofc we shouldn't jump to conclusions too early but let's just say, I fear this Vuelta will be the confirmation that he is not the next spanish super climber in the making.

Oh come on, he's shown his talent plenty of times and now he has one bad day and suddenly we're going to be all pessimistic? Even if he can't finish high up on GC this Vuelta that doesn't mean anything about the rest of his career.

As I wrote I don't want to jump to conclusions yet, it's just that I fear he won't fulfill the expectations for this vuelta. And I disagree that that wouldn't mean anything. You are right that Mas has shown great climbing before, especially in the vuelta al pais vasco, but that was one breakaway win in a preparation race. It was mightily impressive but if that ends up being his most impressive performance of the year he showed progression from last year but not the kind of progression one would expect from a future gt winner. It's just that the climbers who were seen as future stars when they were still very young rarely have a slow progression and then suddenly turn great from one year to another. For the same reason I wrote after Soler's PN victory that I saw that race as confirmation that he will struggle to become a gt winner. Soler was good but not as good as you'd expect a future gt winner with 24 years.

I don't see him as a future GT winner. I see him becoming a very respectable GC climbers who'll win mountain stages, some one-week stage races and might have a shot at winning a GT at some point with some luck, but will more likely be a top-10 contender.

Then our opinions don't differ that much anyway. What I was trying to say is that this vuelta might very well destroy the picture of Mas being the next contador, expectations that were never very reasonable anyway but where there nontheless.

 

[Kwibus]

I think he could get the level of Contador post 2011, so to win a 3 weeks race if the best riders are out of in bad shape. Of course the same as Contador, not the Tour. enric Mas has showed a impressive level so far for his age, as Contador did.

Contador was 31 in his first Tour, he didnt work for anybody, as Mas is ot working as well. I thing Mas will be top 20, wich is similar.
Anyway I think Contador was a better rider, he has difficult to get that level, but he on the way so far.

Jesus Christ.

Atleast you could restrain yourself to just this reply which is impressive enough I must add!
I

 

[Red Rick]

Ofc we shouldn't jump to conclusions too early but let's just say, I fear this Vuelta will be the confirmation that he is not the next spanish super climber in the making.

Oh come on, he's shown his talent plenty of times and now he has one bad day and suddenly we're going to be all pessimistic? Even if he can't finish high up on GC this Vuelta that doesn't mean anything about the rest of his career.

As I wrote I don't want to jump to conclusions yet, it's just that I fear he won't fulfill the expectations for this vuelta. And I disagree that that wouldn't mean anything. You are right that Mas has shown great climbing before, especially in the vuelta al pais vasco, but that was one breakaway win in a preparation race. It was mightily impressive but if that ends up being his most impressive performance of the year he showed progression from last year but not the kind of progression one would expect from a future gt winner. It's just that the climbers who were seen as future stars when they were still very young rarely have a slow progression and then suddenly turn great from one year to another. For the same reason I wrote after Soler's PN victory that I saw that race as confirmation that he will struggle to become a gt winner. Soler was good but not as good as you'd expect a future gt winner with 24 years.

I don't see him as a future GT winner. I see him becoming a very respectable GC climbers who'll win mountain stages, some one-week stage races and might have a shot at winning a GT at some point with some luck, but will more likely be a top-10 contender.

I think he could get the level of Contador post 2011, so to win a 3 weeks race if the best riders are out of in bad shape. Of course the same as Contador, not the Tour. enric Mas has showed a impressive level so far for his age, as Contador did.

Contador was 31 in his first Tour, he didnt work for anybody, as Mas is ot working as well. I thing Mas will be top 20, wich is similar.
Anyway I think Contador was a better rider, he has difficult to get that level, but he on the way so far.

And I am a Nigerian prince

 

[LaFlorecita]

Great ride today! Very active at the front, and a nice result. Let's see what he can do in the next two stages, I think these steeper climbs suit him very well.

 

[Gigs_98]

Seems like I panicked too early