Enrique Mas: "Hopefully I can cover Paris"

Enrique More, leader of the Movistar rangeArrived at tours in good shape, calm and motivated to reach the desired place on the podium “big loop”without removing the ultimate dream to conquer Parisas other Majorcans did recently, footballer Marco Asensio won the Champions League in the French capital and tennis player Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

“If we compare what Asensio and Nadal have achieved, I have to arrive in yellow in Paris. That would be a dream for me and for Mallorca, to put all three at the top. I really hope so,” Enric Mas said in Copenhagen, prepared for the start this Friday of the 109th edition of the Tour.

In more realistic terms, the arta cyclistThe 27-year-old will face his fourth Tour as the lone and undisputed leader, a reference to the Spanish peloton consisting of just nine riders and before the opportunity to make the leap to the quality he expects and of fans. A jump that can only be a podium. The fifth and sixth spots have already been occupied.

“A LEADER, ANOTHER ASSISTANT”

“I came to the Tour as the sole team leader, unlike other years, and I noticed that I was going to have another rider for me, something that was important because if there was a problem I would have more help. The team will have one less leader and I will have one more assistant. For others I feel calm and motivated to finish in the drawer ”said more at your hotel in the Danish capital.

In the beginning, Mas prefers step-by-step, knowing a first week with pitfalls along the way, with possible surprises, and an appointment he has in mind: the fifth day with cobbled sections.

“The first week is going to be tough and we have to try to have a good time. Let us pray that good luck accompanies us, which is always a factor that matters. We’ve watched the cobblestone stage 2-3 times because it’s new to me. I think I did it well, I was motivated and I was excited because it was a scenario you watched on television. You also know that differences can be great. “

This will be the first time more came out with strange streaks, also in a year in which his team had to accumulate points preventing a hypothetical drop in the category, a pressure factor that could surpass a good position in the overall classification.

“If we succeed on the podium, it means we’ve done great stages. In big races you have to look at points, of course, but a good position in the overall classification points is coming. One thing will lead to another, “he explained.

A position in the drawer of Paris is undoubtedly the great and sole purpose of Enrique More nasa tours which will launch this Friday Copenhagen. He was fifth in 2020 and sixth in 2021.

“The jump that was expected of me, hopefully this year. The fall of the Dauphiné took me out of training, but I hope to be well. With confidence, I got 10 out of 10, more. Good form I’ve been to Dauphiné and lost it a bit, but hopefully I’ve recovered it and the bad luck is over “.

“ATTACK ME IF NECESSARY, BUT NOT FOR FANS TO BE HAPPY”

To meet his challenge, he may have to make some of the attacks that fans often don’t miss, the ones that build on the staff, but that attitude is only considered by the Movistar leader in case he has the strength. and timely. , never to amuse the spectator watching the race from home.

“Do I have to make an attack or not is something to be seen on the road, that is for me to decide. Sometimes it’s easy to be in front of the TV and ask to start, but that depends if I have the strength. And can do If it’s If it’s necessary for me to be the first attacker, but attacking for the fans … I’m going for the podium … attacking because it’s not, but if it comes out, yes “, he clarified.

STAGE OF MIND COBBLES

During the first week of the race, the “pavé” stage, the cobblestones on the stages of Roubaixmotivating and stimulating Enrique Morewho has never experienced shooting in those classic test scenarios.

“That stage motivated me. The same thing came and I lost a minute. When I was racing for a Belgian team, I went to races with a little bit of pavé and it motivated me. me. We went to see the stages of this stage, in some it is reminiscent of Roubaix. At the moment I can see that stage “, he commented.

The test during the penultimate day at Rocamadour with a 40 km journey was very far, a test that for Enric Mas would not be decisive ”at that point in the race.

“The final test is going to be long and hard. We’ve seen it and I hope to do it well. There won’t be much difference in the top 10. I think after a very long and hard Tour, things won’t change.”

Regarding the absence of Alejandro Valverde, the Balearic cyclist did not hesitate to prove that the eternal captain “is always important in and out of the race, being with him as well”, he said, “I was laughing hard”, but stressed that The 2022 Tour came “with the best team possible”.

Enric Mas will be the reference to the 9 Spanish riders who will embark on the Tour, a figure far from the forties of the first years of the century. Balearic hopes that in future editions the number will increase to new values.

“There are only a few nine, but hopefully only this year. We’re just a minority, but there are some very good young riders who are already giving results and are here next year or two, and giving war.”