A magnificent ride and an emotional win for Soudal Quick-Step’s Basque, on a breathless and epic penultimate day of the race.
Mikel Landa produced a vintage display to win from the breakaway and earn his place in the history books of the Spanish Grand Tour as the rider with the longest gap between two stage victories: 11 years. It was Mikel’s first success in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey and one that the entire Wolfpack will always remember, at the end of an arduous day of racing, with five classified climbs and 4900 vertical meters.
Echelons, splits, a numerous breakaway, and an even larger chasing group containing four Soudal Quick-Step riders - the first two hours of the race had everything. Gianmarco Garofoli, Valentin Paret-Peintre and Filippo Zana were all there for Mikel Landa and chased hard to reduce the gap to the leaders before the 36-year-old Basque made his move and set out in pursuit of the front group. With 55 kilometers to go, Mikel joined the main breakaway, which disintegrated half an hour later on the harsh slopes of Puerto de El Duque.
Only Mikel, a stage winner at the Vuelta in 2015, and two other riders remained up the road as they crested this steep first-category climb, and they worked together to expand the gap on the chasers to four minutes by the time they arrived at the bottom of the final ascent. There, the experienced Basque attacked seven kilometers from the line, dropping his breakaway companions and continuing to tap out a strong rhythm on the brutal gradients of Collada del Alguacil, a beast of a climb that welcomed the Vuelta for the first time in the history of the race.
It was a huge effort, one that Mikel could feel in the legs with each meter that brought him closer to the summit, but nothing could stop one of the peloton’s last romantic riders from his rendez-vous with history and with an unforgettable and exhilarating victory that he took after five hours in the saddle.
I didn’t expect this, but I dreamed about it.
“I didn’t expect this, but I dreamed about it. It was the last opportunity to do something and I was extremely motivated today. It feels incredible to be again a stage winner here, after so many years! It was a really hard season and a hard race, but today I made it and I want to thank the team for their confidence and amazing support throughout the entire race. I’m very happy, as I was really looking for this win, and to succeed today, just before the last stage in Granada, is fantastic. It’s a moment that will forever have a special place in my heart”, an emotional Mikel said after signing off Soudal Quick-Step’s 41st La Vuelta stage win.
Photo credit: ©Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images
