In the long-awaited third series of Movistar's documentary El Día Menos Pensado (The Most Unlikely Day), Colombian star Miguel Angel López and his controversial decision to abandon the 2021 Vuelta a España after leaving the team The inside story of the "Mere Old Man" will be revealed. Lopez, who won the Vuelta's toughest mountain stage, El Gamoniteir, a few days earlier, was in third place overall on the second and final stage of the Vuelta. Lopez was trying to chase down his rivals for his podium and Movistar's second place overall, Enric Mas (co-leader), in the final stages of the hilly stage through Galicia. However, his pursuit gradually proved fruitless, and he was ordered to call it off by the team's sports management (whose insistence is still evident today).

Infuriated by this decision, Lopez quit the race and a few weeks later left the team altogether. He then re-signed with his former team, Astana Kazakstan.

The third season of the series, released this week, reveals how Lopez and Mas had a tense rivalry during the Vuelta, long before the Colombian decided to abandon.

On stage 9, with a summit finish on Verefique, Lopez set the pace on the climb. Later, however, Lopez was not satisfied when Mas responded to an attack by overall winner Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma) and despite a message from the management urging Mas to wait for Lopez, Lopez was able to escape.

"I couldn't logically understand why Enric was running flat," Lopez claimed in the documentary."

"I should have contacted them.

"It was a good situation for the team," Mas later countered.

"I was angry because I lost faith [in the team] at that point. Something was lost," Lopez added.

The breakdown in communication continued throughout the race, and despite a "summit meeting" between the riders to resolve it, Lopez held his own on the Pico de Viellecas and Guy Moniteil stages to take his second win. The real showdown, however, came on stage 20, the last group-start stage of the Vuelta.

On one of the myriad climbs in the middle of the stage, an attack involving GC contender Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) and two Burleen Victorias, one of whom, Jack Haig, was fighting for the podium.

The serious problem for Movistar, however, was that while Mas and Roglic were part of this move, Lopez was not.

"My first mistake was not being there when I needed to be there, and my second mistake was that Enric ...... 'Migue don't run behind me,'" said Lopez, who led the backward chase. In the documentary, Mas is heard uttering these words over the radio, but he later claimed that he actually said, "'Migue', don't work. Please, attack me."

Mas then explained that his request was phrased so that Lopez would understand that he needed to attempt a solo breakaway rather than drag the entire chase group to the top group at a steady pace. Lopez, however, did not see it that way.

"I was confused. They told me not to push because they were going to attack me from behind. But they practically didn't give me a fighting chance," Lopez later complained." I felt like their trust in me was quickly lost." In the midst of increasingly acrimonious conversations between the riders and team cars, Lopez was directly urged by team manager Eusebio Unzué to stop the chase, saying, "You're going to burn out." And as the gap between the two groups widened considerably and Lopez's chances of third place overall went up in smoke, the Colombian said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we're done here. It's been fun. 0]

Despite all the discussions with his teammates, his sporting director, and even his wife about what to do.

"I told him to really attack," said Jose Joaquin Rojas, who tried to follow from behind.

"I told him to go for two balls and show what he was really made of, and 500 meters later I saw him in the car."

Lopez himself presented accusatory conclusions about the Movistar team's management in the documentary.

"It has been made clear time and again that they do not know how to handle their leaders. It didn't work with Nairo (Quintana), (Mikel) Landa, or me."

It seems that Lopez quit in such a dramatic fashion not simply because he was angry, but because he no longer wanted to remain with the team either. This despite the fact that he had re-signed with the team two days before the Vuelta began.

"I told [performance manager] Pazzi Villa that I wanted him to throw me out of the team. . and that he should do so now."