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'I'm starting to believe so': Mas says this is the best level of his career after latest Vuelta demonstration The Movistar leader extended his lead with an attack 11 kilometres from the summit, and credited a team performance he says went exactly to plan. Enric Mas said he is beginning to accept that he is riding the best form of his career after extending his Vuelta a España lead on Calar Alto, where he attacked with 11 kilometres remaining and gapped Felix Gall and Primož Roglič. Movistar had Pablo Castrillo and Raúl García Pierna in the day's breakaway and Iván Romeo driving the general classification group behind, work that Mas said had been agreed before the start. "It was the initial plan, just as we said on the bus, and it happened," Mas said. "I think everyone watching on TV was able to see the work they did from the first to the last. I want to thank them, because they are being a great team." The one absence he feels is Cian Uijtdebroeks, who fractured his ankle in a crash on stage 2 and did not start stage 5. Movistar have been reliant on Mas alone for the overall since. "It is true that it is a shame not to have Cian here. He is a very strong rider and, because of the circumstances of cycling, because of a fall, we cannot have him," he said. "But we had to divide ourselves into parts during the stage and I think we did a great job." The stage was won from the break by Jakob Omrzel, with Santiago Buitrago third. Behind them Mas took time out of every rider on the podium, on a 166.6-kilometre day from Vera with five categorised climbs and temperatures pushing into the high thirties. "I think it was the result we wanted," he said, before thanking the roadside support in heat that has become a feature of this second week. Asked whether the bigger advantage brings any calm, Mas said the opposite applies. "What it gives me is more motivation than calm. It is something super positive," he said. "I think if the guys respond, I have to respond, and for now we are doing it. So we are going to enjoy it." Mas has finished second at this race three times, in 2018, 2021 and 2022, and third in 2024. He inherited the red jersey through Tadej Pogačar's crash on stage 8 and declined to put it on at the presentation that evening, saying it was not a good feeling to take it that way. He has since won on the Alto de Aitana and extended his lead twice. On whether this is now the best version of himself, Mas said he was beginning to think so. "I'm starting to believe that yes, because for now that is what has been seen," he said. Result: Vuelta a España stage 12 Join our WhatsApp service Be first to know. Subscribe to Domestique on WhatsApp for free and stay up to date with all the latest from the world of cycling.