As soon as he got off the bike, Enric Mas ran to kiss his wife María Bel and his children Jan and Emma who, being so little, didn’t understand much, no matter how much they smiled and hugged dad. The cyclist reciprocated, as he was already happy when they saw him in Andorra — they live there — and he was beaming this Sunday sharing his joy with his family, the ones who always supported him. “Without them…,” he confessed at the start of this Vuelta, aware that he has gone through a year of hardships mixed with injuries; “luckily, personally I have always done very well.” And part of the victory, of course, was for them: “They deserve more credit than I do. They are the ones who really push me in difficult moments,” Mas concluded from the press room, still with a smile from ear to ear. And he opened up: “After the process I have gone through, there have been difficult moments, hitting rock bottom. But thanks to my people, the team… everyone, we have made a dream come true.” One that started in El Bartolo and ended in Granada.
“That day was very important, being with Tadej. And I had confidence since I took the maillot rojo after his fall,” he said to assert: “I have dreamed of this victory, fought for it and worked for it, so of course I imagined it. If I had lost confidence, I would have quit cycling or dedicated myself to another type of cycling.”
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Roglic was second, although before the Vuelta started he said he could barely get on the bike alone after overcoming an accident. “Definitely, this is a victory for me. It was difficult, but I wanted to be part of this. But I couldn’t beat Enric, who really deserves it.” A superiority that Gall acknowledged, satisfied to be on the podium: “That was our goal and this year we have achieved two — he finished second in the Giro —. Here, Enric has been super strong, without weaknesses in three weeks, defending perfectly. And Roglic is a very good rider. It’s the right order, my rivals have been stronger.” In this one, however, nothing and no one could beat Mas.
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