How was Enric Mas, according to his friend: "When we go to dinner at a restaurant he brings his own pasta"

PalmaHe has lived in Andorra for years, a usual location among professional cyclists for altitude training camps. Likewise, he maintains lifelong friends with whom he started cycling. The group of friends assures that in short distances he is practically the same as when he was a child: “Approachable, fun, and very natural”. However, he has always been “very private about his intimacy”: “He doesn't like interviews and cameras at all, and if he can avoid them, he does”, tells us Joan Danús, one of the childhood friends of professional cyclist Enric Mas (Artà, 1995).

At only twelve years old, they started cycling together at the Artà Cycling School, run by Miquel Alzamora, “a true cycling reference in the town and world track champion”. In the mid-2000s, he says, “it was also the golden age of Joan Llaneras, who inspired a whole generation of young Majorcan cyclists”. We could say that was the beginning of a dream.

Nevertheless, before dedicating himself completely to cycling, he had also practiced other sports, such as basketball. And, “like any teenager, he also went through fads typical of the time: skateboarding, low-slung trousers... He was a very normal boy, like everyone else”, opines Danús. The cyclist, however, has stood out in the group for his sense of humor and his “mischievous” attitude: “He's the one who always has a joke ready, the funny one in the group”. In the summers, the group of friends used to go to Canyamel. “And we spent many evenings cycling up and down. We went to look for crabs, to hunt tadpoles… and we ended up eating a hamburger at the Canyamel kiosk”, he recounts.

When he was still a teenager, Enric Mas decided to fully commit to cycling. He moved to the Peninsula when he was a cadet, 15 years old, at AEL of Valencia; as a junior, he joined the Castillo de Onda Club in Castellón. At 18, he signed with the Alberto Contador Foundation, considered one of the great nurseries of Spanish cycling.

However, when he was younger, Joan Danús recounts, “Enric didn’t stand out for having a great physique, but for being intelligent on the bike and having a very strategic outlook.” He won many races “because he knew how to read them and made the right decisions.” A very memorable example for the group of friends he started cycling with is the Balearic Infantil Championship between Llucmajor and the Santuari de Gràcia. “Before the start, his father took him to scout the most complicated turns on the route. That strategic vision gave him an advantage.” Later, his physique also began to evolve to perfectly adapt to the demands of professional cycling.

If there is one word that defines Enric, it is discipline. “He is the most disciplined person we know. When he comes to Artà and we go out for dinner, he brings his own pasta so they can prepare him exactly the amount of carbohydrates he needs. He doesn’t miss a single day of his diet. Joining friends for a barbecue or drinking two beers is an absolute exception and almost never happens.”

Enric Mas is mischievous and funny, with remarks that always make his friends laugh. And this more carefree side is balanced with the more serious aspect of the sport: “He has understood that cycling is a sport where differences are decided by seconds. That’s why he follows the coach’s instructions to the letter: if he has to train for four hours, he does four and not three hours and fifty minutes. He rests the necessary hours, takes care of every detail of recovery, and invests in machines to better recover his muscles. Everything revolves around the bicycle.”