La Vuelta Ciclista a España

Mikel Landa overcame Thursday’s setback as he put in an admirable fight on one of the race’s toughest ascents en route to his 21st top-ten result of the season, one which brought a major boost of confidence ahead of the last mountain stage.

Alto de Moncalvillo (8.6km, 8.9%) was the ninth and penultimate uphill finish of this year’s Vuelta, and the peloton rode into the first ramps of this beast of a climb at full speed, this tempo quickly whittling down the group and leaving only two dozen riders at the front. A selection continued to be made with each meter, until eventually Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) rode clear and took a solo victory, moving into the red jersey.

At one point, for a brief moment, Landa got distanced on a brutal double-digit section, but as he has shown countless times this race, he kept his composure and continued unfazed at his own pace, making a cohesive effort that helped him rejoin the main favourite’s group ahead of the flamme rouge. Determined to make the most of this situation, Mikel decided to accelerate shortly after, opening a nice gap on his opponents which he then carried to the finish, where he concluded a remarkable fifth.

This superb effort helped the 34-year-old from Murgia leap to ninth on the overall standings ahead of Saturday’s ferocious stage to Picon Blanco, which will comprise a total of seven classified climbs.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images