Vuelta a Espana 2021 - 'He was pee'd off' - A look at whether Primoz Roglic gave Enric Mas 'a whack' to win Stage 11
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Updated 26/08/2021 at 15:00 GMT
“He could also feel a rider coming and just gave that little flick with the elbow or hip to check his pace. And that’s what he did with Mas." Speaking on The Breakaway, Sean Kelly analysed the tactic employed by Primoz Roglic to fend off Enric Mas to take Stage 11 of La Vuelta. You can watch La Vuelta live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and Eurosport.co.uk.
'He gave him a whack!' - The Breakaway on Roglic beating Mas to Stage 11
Primoz Roglic’s Stage 11 victory at La Vuelta owed as much to mind games as it did to his skill on the road, according to Eurosport’s Sean Kelly.
The Slovenian timed his attack to perfection in the final kilometre of the race, passing Magnus Cort and fending off the challenge of Enric Mas who he beat into second place.
Reviewing the finish for The Breakaway, Kelly suggested Roglic deliberately chose to get physical with the Spaniard, destabilising his rival before racing to the win.
“He could see the road was narrowing,” said Kelly. “He could also feel a rider coming and just gave that little flick with the elbow or hip to check his pace. And that’s what he did with Mas.
“Mas was just looking into the eyes of Roglic and in the meantime he, Roglic, was gaining confidence because in the kick to the line, that’s where he is really strong.”
The reigning champion went on the claim his first road stage win of this year’s race as he looks to regain the red jersey he surrendered 24 hours earlier.
Roglic and Mas were spotted deep in conversation at the conclusion of the race, presumably discussing the incident, with Kelly speculating the Jumbo-Visma rider had moved to pacify his potentially frustrated Movistar rival.
“We could see it was Roglic that went to him, and of course Mas had to shake his hand but you could see he was a bit pee’d off behind it all because if he had got a run all the way to the line, he might have continued all the way and might have put Roglic in difficulty in the final metres.
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'The heartbreaker' - Remarkable Roglic takes Stage 11 in breathtaking finish
“But it’s an old tactic as the Dutch, the Belgians talk about, giving the ‘flick’, give him a whack!”
Kelly then added that the move from Roglic demonstrated his nous as a rider, as he went on to reap the rewards.
“That’s part of the tactic. In the sprints, you see all the time. When you give that little bit of movement to check a rider and that’s what he did, he checked Mas’ speed and when you do that on a steep climb to the line, it means a huge amount.
“Roglic knew when he was going to kick inside that 50 metres to the line, he knew he was more explosive than Mas.”
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