'Doubt and worries’ - Landa unsure of Vuelta España start

Mikel Landa’s crash on stage one of this year’s Giro was one sickening enough to stick in most people’s memory. On the fast descent towards the end of the circuit around the Albanian capital, Tirana, Soudal-Quickstep’s Spanish star left the road, falling down a ledge onto the shop fronts.

Not only was he forced to withdraw from the race almost before it started, but he fractured his T11 vertebra, putting the 35-year-old out of action until this week’s Vuelta a Burgos, a race he was won twice before.

Now, racing close to his home soil, the Basque rider is looking to re-find his feet in the peloton, and is far from certain to be on the start line for the Vuelta a España later this month. So far Landa’s performances in Burgos have been been promising, if not outstanding, his best finish 13th on the fast, punchy uphill finish of stage one, behind Roger Ádria (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), and he is not looking for a repeat of his GC wins in 2017 and 21.

“I have a lot of doubts, worries about how I feel and if my back is responding well, if my legs are performing. I'm going to take it day by day.”

“My goal is to see where I am, get into a rhythm, and forget what happened in the last race,” Landa told AS. “The goal is still to start La Vuelta, I'm not thinking about anything else right now. If I can start I think I'll be satisfied.”

With Landa’s ambitions extending no further than being on the Vuelta start line in Turin on August 23rd, he was asked who he felt might challenge for the overall victory and pointed to Jonas Vignegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) as the pre-race favourite. However, UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s split their leadership between Juan Ayuso and João Almeida also interested Landa.

“In the end, the road is usually a good judge; I think it will be the one that decides. There are many uphill finishes, so strength will determine who can be your trump card.”

Landa’s Giro crash was not only a disaster for him personally, but also for the team, leaving them as it did, crucial short of climbing support for Remco Evenepoel’s Tour de France bid. while the Belgian’s abandon on stage 12 made that a moot point, the Belgian superstar’s imminent exit from the team seems to leave a vacancy in the squad’s grand tour leadership, though Landa would not be drawn. 

“I’m not thinking about that yet.”