Enric Mas Rising Star

[Pennino]

Re: Re:

*telephone rings*
"hello?"
"Hello Enric, SDB here again. That bag of cash just got a bit bigger. Do you like Monaco?"

*telephone rings*
"hello?"
"Ola, Enric, this is Alberto. We need to talk about things that are not good in life. See, there are 2 things in life that are not good. The first is 2nd places, the 2nd is riding for Team Sky. If you sign for Team Sky, I will write you out of my will and you will never enherit the CN hypetrain"

2nd place is excellent if it's the result of going all guns blazing for a small chance of winning .

 

[Flamin]

I was thinking how little sense it made to have Serry completely empty himself by bridging to the break on his own, yesterday, when Mas did a great ITT the day before, meaning he from there on had a very clear shot at the podium AND when today is a sprint stage. Kind of a huge waste of energy.

 

[perico]

De Plus should be quite helpful. He stayed with Mas for quite a while yesterday.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re: Re:

Meanwhile

I think Enric should attack quite early on La Rabassa, hope to be joined by MAL or Kruijswijk and that Valverde and Yates start looking at each other

Haig and Adam will both pull

I imagine that there will be quite a number of fan boy's on this forum pulling also

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re: Re:

Where do I buy my the ticket to the hype-train?

My guess is that this train has been well and truly filled now :lol:

We can add a car

A Europe car :razz:

"You cannot make another post so soon after your last". Oh, but I want to show how quick witted I am!

 

[Koronin]

The hypetrain should have more room than a bandwagon has.

 

[Vroome.exe]

Just casually throws away his podium. I don't understand these tactics.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Dropped the ball today. Podium suddenly seems more difficult. I guess there's a solid chance he can pass Valverde tomorrow, but I just don't understand why he was so passive.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Dropped the ball today. Podium suddenly seems more difficult. I guess there's a solid chance he can pass Valverde tomorrow, but I just don't understand why he was so passive.

Why oh why didn't he attack when Quintana dropped back? The gap was probably less than 10 seconds big at that point. He just threw away his gc position and a great chance to win

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Dropped the ball today. Podium suddenly seems more difficult. I guess there's a solid chance he can pass Valverde tomorrow, but I just don't understand why he was so passive.

Why oh why didn't he attack when Quintana dropped back? The gap was probably less than 10 seconds big at that point. He just threw away his gc position and a great chance to win

Yep. He can still finish on the podium but the win is gone. Maybe it was a rookie mistake.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Just casually throws away his podium. I don't understand these tactics.

Think he just assumed Valverde was stronger than he actually was and wanted to force him to do most of the work. Its a recurrent problem in the last two decades of Spanish cyclists - too much playing games and trying to out-psych others, and not enough laying it all on the line and seizing the opportunity when it arises.

I thought Mas might escape this by going the Quickstep route, but apparently not.

 

[Valv.Piti]

We are sure he just didnt have a mediocre day or something? Maybe he will have a bit more in the tank than Kruijswijk tomorrow, but today was not a good look for the next Contador. But I understand why he rode the way he did, so I cant really blame him.

 

[Akuryo]

In hindsight he should have gone with Yates, cause he locked pretty at ease behind Valverde/Quintana und could also follow MAL without problems. But he gambled that Movistar would bring it back, which obviously did not happen.

 

[Gigs_98]

I agree with most comments. For a rider in his 2nd gt and his first as a gc rider making mistakes like that is not the end of the world. It's just that I was hoping for a little more aggression. And to be honest if Mas had gone with Yates, in that moment I would have thought that's more likely to cost him the podium that the opposite.

 

[Flamin]

Don't think he made a mistake. Today wasn't D-day, tomorrow is. It makes sense to be a bit cautious in his position and not throw everything on the table. The win is gone. Unless he had a super day, which I doubt was the case, then he should have tried to bridge to Yates/Pinot/Kruijswijk. Now he was just defending his podium against López.

Interestingly, Mas and López were solely looking at each other and didn't seem to bother much about Kruijswijk as possible 'third dog' for the podium. Maybe with Oiz in mind where Kruijswijk lost a lot. We'll see how that works out tomorrow.

 

[SafeBet]

The problem is that tomorrow another Valverde might show up. And looking at the profile, it could be the kind of Valverde that wins the stage and secures his podium place.

 

[Cookster15]

Mas is only 23. Some are a little harsh on him after today. Yes lets see how he goes tomorrow, a strong ride would confirm he has the needed recovery to be a GT factor in years to come.

 

[Carols]

Re:

Mas is only 23. Some are a little harsh on him after today. Yes lets see how he goes tomorrow, a strong ride would confirm he has the needed recovery to be a GT factor in years to come.

Indeed, he is a youngster and maybe just didn't have the legs he needed when he needed them. But 'the experts' will still dump on him .

 

[Bakkie]

The kid is 23, 4th in GC. Still amazing!

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Only 8 seconds from the podium in the end. Pretty good TT!
A top-10 at the Vuelta seems likely at this point, and even top-5 is possible.

Wow, 2nd overall and a stage win to boot... Better than I could have ever imagined! The future looks bright

 

[Red Rick]

Mas got 2nd in GC

Contador disappoint

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Mas got 2nd in GC

Contador disappoint

2nd place is not good

 

[RedheadDane]

Damn, someone better watch out!











This guy got a wider smile than Chaves!

 

[MuskyOurSaviour]

Super impressive but it's kinda crazy to think Lopez is less than a year older. It still feels to me like Mas was a total youngster and Lopez experienced veteran rider somehow

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well finally Spain have found the real new gt star