Landa’s 7th Top 5 at a Major

Mikel Landa (1989, Murgia) always comes back. In April, the cyclist from Alava fell in Itzulia, which meant that he needed time to recover from another accident. But with the help of Remco Evenepoel in Soudal, Landa found the motivation to continue to shine in the Grand Tours, as he did in this Tour, where he was the best cyclist in the country, the faithful squire of his leader and where he entered his seventh top five between the Giro, Tour and Vuelta. If you add sixth and seventh places in the other two French stages, Landa has seven times been among the top nine times in the three-week tests in which the man from Zuy showed that he is an excellent long-distance runner.

Yesterday the result was confirmed and Landa was fourth twice, fifth once, sixth once and seventh in the overall Tour classification. But since 2020, when he was two minutes behind the third place defended by Richie Porte, Landa has not performed at this level in the Grande Boucle. His move to Sudal after leading the Barhain seems to be a breath of fresh air for the rider from Murgia, who already showed his great motivation at the beginning of the season and who increasingly missed the Tour until Together with Almeida, he is the cyclist who was closest to Pogačar, Wingegaard and Evenepoel. And also the oldest rider in the top ten of the classification, a representative of another generation, surpassed by the young talents who dominate the race today.

We must not forget that his first podium at a major came nine years ago, in 2015, when Landa was stopped by his Astana team while defending Aru’s chances, and was left without the chance to displace Alberto Contador from first place. Nine years later, with different types of runners and even with cycling, Landa knew how to reorient himself, and in this Tour he seemed freer and more relaxed, without the pressure of having to lead the ranks, as happened in previous projects. . sports.

Yesterday, in fact, Landa had one of the best moments of his life, finishing seventh, where he jokingly reminded journalists that he had once been second in the Spanish Time Trial Championship. “I am very happy because in this team I have found the confidence and freshness that I was lacking,” the man from Murgia admitted with a smile, talking about what a change of scenery this season has been for him. “I have found a very good group that allows me to do what I do and where I feel appreciated,” Landa added. Yesterday, he admitted: “I feel very good, motivated, and this has helped me to recover from the result of the first time trial. I knew that it was impossible to finish fourth with Almeida, and leaving the race without that pressure has helped me because I really enjoyed it.

Mikel Landa will now head to the Vuelta, where he finished fifth overall in 2023 and where he will lead Sudal. “Yes, Remco allows me to do that and I hope to do as little as possible until the start in Lisbon to try to maintain the freshness I have,” he said.