Landa delivers huge ride on first GC test of La Vuelta

Landa delivers huge ride on first GC test of La Vuelta

Mikel Landa fought tooth and nail on the seemingly neverending climb that witnessed the first showdown between the GC contenders of the Spanish Grand Tours, and for a couple of seconds even dreamed of what would have been an incredible win at the end of a stage that made an important selection in the rankings.

Long before this exciting battle for victory unfolded, the peloton took on three classified ascents, one of which was Alto del Piornal, where Remco Evenepoel surged to a memorable victory in 2022, basically sealing his overall triumph and writing history for Belgium and the Wolfpack. The breakaway, which formed on Puerto de Cabezabellosa, fought for the KOM points there, before being eventually caught on the slopes of Pico Villuercas.

This 14.6km climb, averaging 6.2%, returned for the first time since 2021, the peloton tackling it now from the harder side, one featuring some gruelling slopes of 20% in the last part. Things exploded on the steepest segment of the mountain, with five kilometers to go, splintering an already thinned-out bunch and leaving only six riders in the lead. Mikel found himself distanced, but staged one of the most remarkable comebacks seen in a Grand Tour this season, bridging across with just 800 meters to go thanks to a formidable determination and an heroic effort.

As if this wasn’t enough, the experienced Basque gambled every ounce of energy he still had left on a powerful acceleration with 300 meters left of the stage, opening a small gap on his opponents, who caught him an agonizing 75 meters from the line, where Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) prevailed. Mikel concluded the day in seventh place and made a huge jump in the general classification, where he now sits in ninth, around 25 seconds from the podium.

“I didn’t know what to expect this morning because I didn’t have the best feeling, but in the end, it was a good stage. I gave my best and always kept the confidence, even when I got dropped. I am happy I could return in the group and even try something in the finale. I said to myself there is a chance and went all-in. It wasn’t to be, but I am satisfied with finishing together with the main GC guys and jumping so many places in the standings”, said the leader of T-Rex Quick-Step.

 

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images

Race details

1 Primož Roglič
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
4:26:49
2 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
0:00
3 João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates
0:00
4 Enric Mas Nicolau
Movistar Team
0:00
5 Felix Gall
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
0:00
6 Matthew Riccitello
Israel - Premier Tech
0:00
7 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
8 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
0:18
9 George Bennett
Israel - Premier Tech
0:28
10 Pavel Sivakov
UAE Team Emirates
0:28
51 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
5:13
54 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
5:28
80 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step
8:39
92 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal Quick-Step
10:01
112 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
12:13
124 Casper Pedersen
Soudal Quick-Step
14:03
143 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
16:09
1 Primož Roglič
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
14:33:08
2 João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates
0:08
3 Enric Mas Nicolau
Movistar Team
0:32
4 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
0:38
5 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
0:41
6 Felix Gall
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
0:47
7 Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
0:50
8 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen
Lidl - Trek
0:58
9 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
0:58
10 Aleksandr Vlasov
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
1:00
51 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
6:20
53 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
6:40
75 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step
9:38
79 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal Quick-Step
10:21
107 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
13:54
125 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
16:28
135 Casper Pedersen
Soudal Quick-Step
17:14
1 Wout van Aert
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
111 pt
2 Kaden Groves
Alpecin - Deceuninck
105 pt
3 Luis Ángel Maté Mardones
Euskaltel - Euskadi
35 pt
4 Corbin Strong
Israel - Premier Tech
35 pt
5 Jon Aberasturi Izaga
Euskaltel - Euskadi
34 pt
6 Ibon Ruiz Sedano
Equipo Kern Pharma
34 pt
7 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
33 pt
8 Mathias Vacek
Lidl - Trek
32 pt
9 Pavel Bittner
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
31 pt
10 Primož Roglič
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
28 pt
30 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
9 pt
50 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
1 pt
1 Sylvain Moniquet
Lotto Dstny
16 pt
2 Filippo Zana
Team Jayco AlUla
11 pt
3 Primož Roglič
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
10 pt
4 Luis Ángel Maté Mardones
Euskaltel - Euskadi
9 pt
5 Bruno Armirail
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
7 pt
6 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
6 pt
7 João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates
4 pt
8 Xabier Isasa Larrañaga
Euskaltel - Euskadi
3 pt
9 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel
Euskaltel - Euskadi
3 pt
10 Ibon Ruiz Sedano
Equipo Kern Pharma
3 pt
1 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
14:33:46
2 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
0:03
3 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen
Lidl - Trek
0:20
4 Matthew Riccitello
Israel - Premier Tech
0:26
5 Isaac del Toro Romero
UAE Team Emirates
0:48
6 Carlos Rodríguez Cano
INEOS Grenadiers
0:52
7 Florian Lipowitz
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
1:12
8 Cian Uijtdebroeks
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
1:38
9 Thymen Arensman
INEOS Grenadiers
2:19
10 Max Poole
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
3:35
12 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
5:42
13 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
6:02
1 UAE Team Emirates 43:41:05
2 Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 1:19
3 Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 2:42
4 Movistar Team 3:07
5 Bahrain - Victorious 4:14
6 Israel - Premier Tech 4:36
7 INEOS Grenadiers 5:22
8 Groupama - FDJ 7:42
9 Team Visma | Lease a Bike 9:10
10 Astana Qazaqstan Team 10:26

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