Enric Mas struggled in the time trial of stage 13 of the Vuelta a España, ending his hopes of a podium finish.

Like the Vuelta, this stage combined a 30km flat with a steep final climb, and he finished 9th in the Tour de France time trial.

However, Mas only finished 16th on the day, ahead of all four riders who started above him in the overall standings: Primoz Roglic, Richard Kalapas, Hugh Kersee, and Dan Martin were all ahead of him in the overall standings.

Mass lost time early on at the first checkpoint on the flat and was unable to make up for it as he switched to his road bike and entered a steep 1.8km climb. He lost 1:43 to stage winner Roglic, 1:18 to Kersee, 54 seconds to Kalapas, and 23 seconds to Martin, who is far from a time trial specialist.

"For me today was a disaster. I couldn't find my rhythm, I couldn't find a good position on the TT bike," Mas said on Spanish television after the stage.

"That's part of the sport. You have good days and bad days. It wasn't my best day, but it was a day to learn.

Mas and his team director, Pablo Lastras, defended their decision to switch to road bikes not at the base of the climb like the others, but on the climb itself, switching from the team car at the first turn.

"Every little time counts," Lastras said, "and I was trying to get the most out of his momentum." The legality of this change is a question mark, he argued." The rules say you can do it, so it's all legal."

Mass is still in fifth place overall, three minutes behind sixth-place Wout Poels, but is so far out of the red jersey that even a podium finish with five stages to go will be difficult. He is 3:23 behind stage winner and overall leader Roglic, 2:44 behind second-placed Calapaz, 2:36 ahead of last-place finisher Kersee, and 1:41 ahead of fourth-placed Martín.

The race continues this week with intermediate mountain stages, with Saturday's summit finish in La Covatilla the climax of the overall title fight.

"Tomorrow we will discuss how we will approach the next stages, the final week of the Vuelta, and continue to fight for the podium," Mas said.

Meanwhile, Lastras claimed that other riders also had an unlucky day and hinted that the team will unite to usurp Roglic and his Jumbo-Visma teammate.

"It was a bad day not only for us, but for the rest of the team as well.