The Basque racked up another top-three finish at one of the oldest events in the world.
Mikel Landa will enter the final stage of the race in second place, after a solid effort on the queen stage, which took in more than 4000 vertical meters. Running from Berga to Queralt, this 154.7km trek featured five classified climbs, including the lung-bursting Coll de Pradell (14.2km, 7%), which made its debut in a race.
This special-category ascent, whose final four kilometers averaged 11%, was where the race exploded when the team of the overall leader decided to up the tempo, which left only a dozen riders in the lead on the descent. Mikel Landa remained excellently positioned all the time, second or third wheel, as the leading group continued to ride hard in the valley.
Collada de Sant Isidre was the penultimate difficulty of the day, and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) attacked there. Initially, Landa was the only one capable of following the Slovenian, who accelerated again on the steepest part of the climb, going clear. The experienced Basque made sure of dosing his effort carefully without going deep into the pain cave, riding his own pace on the gruelling gradients and starting the descent 20 seconds down on the sole leader.
Joined by Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) just before the last ascent, Mikel worked well together with the Colombian, keeping a hefty advantage over the chasers, and concluded what was arguably the hardest mountain stage since the start of the season in an impressive third place, which allowed him to extend his buffer over the next rider in the ranking.
“For a moment there, I believed we had a chance of catching Pogacar, but it turned out to be impossible in the valley. Nevertheless, we did a great job behind and I think we can be content with the result. It’s been a very good week for me, which is always excellent for the confidence. We have one more stage here, but I’m already looking forward to the next races”, said Mikel after his third podium in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey.
Photo credit: ©David Ramos / Getty Images
