Enric Mas finally wins the Spanish Vuelta after finishing second three times

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GRANADA, Spain (AP) — Home rider Enric Mas ended years of frustration by winning the Spanish Vuelta on Sunday — having inherited the red jersey from Tadej Pogacar after the five-time Tour de France champion crashed out.

Mas, the Spaniard who leads the Movistar team and has finished second overall three times, finished 2 minutes, 15 seconds ahead of four-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic.

Felix Gall finished third overall in the 21st and final stage, 2:44 behind Mas.

Pogacar led Mas by 3 minutes, 50 seconds when he crashed in the eighth stage.

Mas was the Vuelta runner-up in 2018, 2021 and 2022; and he placed third in 2024. He also finished fifth and sixth at the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Mas’ victory marks the greatest Grand Tour achievement for a Spanish cyclist since Alberto Contador won the Giro d’Italia in 2015. Contador was also the last Spaniard to win the Vuelta in 2014.

Norwegian rider Tobias Johannessen won the final stage, a 102-kilometer (63-mile) leg featuring climbing and descending in the medieval city of Granada. There were four circuits of Granada to conclude the stage; with the overall times neutralized for the final lap.

Johannessen edged Alessandro Romele in a two-man sprint. Mas crossed the line arm-in-arm with his six Movistar teammates several minutes later.

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