Injury nightmare behind him, Enric Mas changes course for 2026: "I wanted some extra motivation"

It was in stage seven of the 2025 Tour de France, the run to Mûr-de-Bretagne, that things went wrong for Mas. The Spaniard crashed, finished the stage, but eventually abandoned the race in stage eighteen. After that, the situation only got worse, and the diagnosis of phlebitis (inflammation of a vein) surfaced.

Mas hit rock bottom, especially because for the first time in five years he had to miss “his” Vuelta a España. “It’s tough. I’d known for a while that I wouldn’t be there, so I’m dealing with it as best I can. It’s really tough not to be able to ride a bike because of an injury, but I have to accept it,” he said at the time.

A successful operation followed in October 2025, after which the recovery could truly begin. Now Mas is on the verge of returning to the peloton—something that feels strange in its own way. “To be honest, over the past few days I’ve had some strange feelings… but I’m really eager to get going,” the Spaniard said in an interview with AS.

“The recovery process after the injury wasn’t easy,” Mas continued. “After that, it became much simpler, better than I expected. That said, I hope it doesn’t happen again.” The rider from Mallorca starts his season close to home on Thursday, with a team time trial on “his” home island.

Mas is absolutely not expecting to be in top form immediately. “I hope to have that by the Volta a Catalunya (in March, ed.),” said the Spaniard, who is happy to begin close to home. “When I saw there was a team time trial, I asked the team if I could take part. I think they had already talked about it. I enjoy riding these kinds of team time trials and experiencing them at home, even if it’s only a few kilometres from where I live.”

In any case, Mas can finally look ahead again—and in 2026, the Giro d’Italia is on his schedule for the first time in his career. That is notable, given that from 2019 through 2025 he chose the Tour every single season. “It’s a new challenge for me, and one I’m really looking forward to. I’ve followed the same racing calendar for years and I wanted something different—some extra motivation,” he explained.

What else is on his programme? “I’m going to the UAE Tour and then I’ll focus on altitude training. After that I’ll go to Catalunya and then the Giro.” There he expects to run into riders such as Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida. “I know they’re both going, but apart from that I don’t know much about it. At home I don’t read much about cycling. Only when you’re with the team do you find out a lot more.”

No Tour, then—and that leaves room for a return to his beloved Vuelta. There, Mas could well come up against Tadej Pogačar. “Tadej is Tadej. If he sets a goal, he’s hard to beat. It’s true Van der Poel did it in some Classics, but he also wins the Tour, dominates in Canada, the World Championships, the European Championships, Il Lombardia…”

Still, Mas can take heart—because who was one of the last riders to beat Pogačar in the Italian autumn? That’s right: Enric Mas. It happened at the Giro dell’Emilia in 2022. “Wow, that was years ago. We’re still working just as hard—or even harder—to get back there,” he looked back on that duel.

A possible showdown with Pogačar is for later, though. First: what does Mas actually want from 2026? “To be able to finish the season, which I couldn’t do last year.” That’s not all, because the Spaniard is also willing to put sporting goals into words. “What I’d like most is to be on the podium of a Grand Tour again.”