Enrique Mas: "The stages of the Pyrenees with heat can be chaotic"

Henry Moreover, Movistar tops the rankings, tenth in totalhoping to achieve the goal to win a stage taking advantage of the battles planned for the battle for the final victory between Jumbo from Vingegaard and the UAE from Pogacar and the high mountain sun on Pyreneeswhere he hopes the heat is one of his allies.

“I am very confident that in the 6-7 ahead of me, quite a few will fall due to the hardness of the stages and the heat of the Pyrenees. The podium is far away, but I’m still confident. We will have the opportunity to find a stage. The 2 strong teams, Jumbo and UAE they already have both runners and need to play their tricks. A Pogacar he wanted to have fun starting from afar. It will be a show, especially for the public, ”Mas said on the third day of the Tour’s break.

Mas considers both Jumbo and UAE, with 6 runners each, “They can’t control the race so much anymore”so entering the breakaway of 25 runners can be a good option to find the goal of reaping partial success.

The option of getting into a breakout has been tried by Mas in previous stages, but, as the Balearic cyclist explained, “Jumbo doesn’t let me in, nor does Pogacar let me in. At the last withdrawal of Kruijswijk and Roglic , everything will be different. This week is going to be very difficult and it can create a huge chaos “.

“PRACTICING INEOS CAN BE KEY”

The expected battle between Jumbo and UAE for the yellow jersey and the participation of Ineos for the podium is, in Mas ’eyes, another decisive factor.

“I can benefit from the battle between Vingegaard and Pogacar, plus Ineos has been defended himself so far and they also have a team to make a difference, so they will try for the podium and something else with Geraint Thomas. He has to try, he Want more than the podium and that could benefit me, ”he commented.

As for the favorite for the final victory, Mas did not pick either of the two men who are now leading the overall standings.

“Vingegaard and Pogacar are two cracks. May the best win. The leader has 2.22 minutes, but for me it will be a nice duel from which we can also get some benefit”.

The rider from Artá ​​has compelling reasons to fight to achieve some of his Tour goals. The podium sees him in the distance, as he is 9.58 minutes behind the leader and almost 8 minutes behind the third step.

HEAT AS THE MAIN CONFIDENCE

“The main reason for the constant struggle is because of all the work that goes into going into this career, from the whole team and my staff. We invested a lot of money in concentrations and in going here with all the staff. that is a team. entails. That is the main reason to fight, “he explained.

Before the next stages on Wednesday and Thursday in the Pyrenees, Mas hopes the heat will continue to weaken as it has in recent days.

“Instead of studying the rivals, I focused on another important aspect, especially after these days, what I’m referring to is the heat. I’m confident that it will be this hot in the Pyrenees climbing the Peyragudes and Hautacam, with a high temperature will be an oven, and I like that. ”