Enric Mas has won the Vuelta a España, claiming his first grand tour title and ending a 12-year wait for a Spanish overall winner. His victory was confirmed after he finished safely in the peloton during the 21st and final stage into Grenada, which Norway’s Tobias Johannessen won.
The 31-year-old Movistar rider finished 2 minutes and 15 seconds ahead of four-time Vuelta champion Primož Roglič. Austria’s Felix Gall was third overall, 2:44 behind Mas, according to ABC News Australia.
Mas had previously finished runner-up at his home grand tour in 2018, 2021 and 2022, and third in 2024. His victory makes him the first Spaniard to win the race since Alberto Contador in 2014. Mas said the result was “special” after what he described as a long wait to reach the top of the competition.
The race changed significantly when pre-race favourite Tadej Pogačar crashed during the eighth stage. The Slovenian had built a lead of 3 minutes 50 seconds by the end of stage seven and had won three of the first six completed stages, but the crash broke his collar bone and fractured his neck, ending his season.
Mas had already challenged Pogačar on the mountainous fourth stage in Andorra. After Pogačar’s departure, Mas and Movistar controlled the race, according to the report. The team changed its usual blue jerseys to red in recognition of the achievement.
Contador congratulated Mas in the Spanish newspaper AS, saying he was “very happy and incredibly excited” to see the rider fulfil his potential. Other classification winners included Colombia’s Santiago Buitrago in the mountains competition, Britain’s Oscar Onley in the youth classification and Belgium’s Wout van Aert in the points competition. Van Aert also won the super-combativity prize.