Bruyneel gobsmacked by Gall and Roglic's racing style: 'You don’t win the Vuelta with that kind of mindset'

On stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, Enric Mas once again dealt a blow to his rivals. The Spaniard from Movistar, wearing the red jersey, pulled away from his main challengers and opened up a lead of just under half a minute. Can Primoz Roglic and Felix Gall still win the Vuelta a España? Johan Bruyneel has his doubts—and is particularly skeptical about their racing strategy.

Mas managed to pull far ahead of his rivals with a powerful surge. Gall and Roglic lost 27 seconds. “Roglic seems to be at his limit,” Bruyneel analyses in his podcast THEMOVE. “I don’t think he has the legs to make a difference. A 1.45-minute deficit isn’t a disaster, but it just keeps adding up. If Enric Mas picks up two more 20-second time bonuses, it will be impossible for Roglic to make up the time in the time trial.”

And so a miracle will have to happen. Because Mas is flying. “They have to hope Enric Mas has a bad day, and that doesn’t seem likely. His confidence just keeps growing. We saw him make his first confident attack on the Aitana—not on the counter, but on his own initiative. He gained that confidence when he passed Tadej Pogačar.'

On Stage 6, Mas caught up to Pogačar on a grueling climb. On Stage 12, four stages after the Slovenian had dropped out, the Spaniard took control with a strong surge. But he didn’t gain much time. “It could have gone wrong, because there was still a long way to go to the finish. In that situation, you have to feel like you have that extra gear compared to Roglic and Gall.”

So they conceded just under half a minute. Bruyneel, however, questioned the race strategy of Gall and his Decathlon CMA CGM team after they launched an attack with a furious surge. “They’re getting ahead of themselves. They had four riders out in front for a kilometer and a half, and then Gall went already. Shouldn’t you try to make better use of your team for longer?”

Furthermore, according to Bruyneel, the interview with Gall after the finish was telling. “He said he was satisfied with the result because he’d eliminated a podium contender—in this case, Oscar Onley. You don’t win the Vuelta with that kind of mindset. Look, they feel that Mas is the strongest rider—there’s no doubt about that. But still: Gall and Decathlon are riding for the podium, not to win the Vuelta.”

In the final kilometer, they were still able to close the gap on the red jersey wearer a bit. “I expected it to be 45 seconds, but it ended up being 27. In the end, it doesn’t really matter that much; it feels more symbolic, like a statement. Plus, he’s gaining more and more time. The others, on the other hand, have to make up time—especially Felix Gall: he’s a worse time trialist than Mas.”

Carapaz crossed the finish line with Gall and Roglic. Roglic launched a furious attack on the second-to-last climb. Bruyneel laughs a little at that. “It’s always the same with Carapaz. It’s spectacular to watch, but then you take a closer look, and he’s only 15 seconds ahead. I don’t know what he was trying to do. I don’t think it’s smart, but on the other hand, you have to admit he’s very strong. He recovered from that attack and crossed the finish line with Roglic and Gall. That’s impressive, man.”

So the Ecuadorian’s legs are definitely in top shape. “If he’d been with Mas, wouldn’t he have attacked on that penultimate climb? Probably not, but he did finish ahead of Roglic and Gall. He’s in fourth place now and probably won’t make it onto the podium, but he’s getting better and better in these Grand Tours—it’s insane.”