La Vuelta Ciclista a España

Seven classified climbs and 5000 vertical meters – two good reasons why the penultimate day of the Spanish Grand Tour was labelled as being the queen stage of the whole race. The final showdown between the general classification favourites in the high mountains brought an impressive display from the entire T-Rex Quick-Step team, who turned themselves inside out in support of Mikel Landa.

Our boys took over the reins in the peloton with around 70 kilometers to go, and their presence there was felt immediately, as the gap to the breakaway was reduced while riders began to lose contact with the bunch as a result of this forcing. On the long Puerto de los Tornos, Landa took the race by the scruff of its neck and danced clear of the main group, enlivening the race and shedding riders out the back, including some of his GC rivals.

A regrouping happened five kilometers from the top, but on the plateau leading to the last ascent of the day, the Basque tried again, spreading panic in the group, who chased hard to rejoin him. Not long after, Mattia Cattaneo and William Junior Lecerf made it back to the front of the race, and their presence ended up being of huge importance to Landa, who could save energy while the T-Rex Quick-Step duo controlled things.

On Picon Blanco, a climb where he won at the 2017 Vuelta a Burgos, Mikel dug deep and attacked countless times in an attempt to make the difference, and his efforts didn’t go unrewarded. An acceleration just 500 meters from the line ensured him a top ten finish on this hard climb, where Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla), and at the same time helped Mikel move to eighth on the standings with just the individual time trial in Madrid left.

“I am proud of the team, they worked hard for me today and I tried to do my best. I attacked several times, but found no allies, so the others came back. It wasn’t an easy stage, but I kept believing and fighting until the very end, so I am content and have no regrets”, Landa said after the stage.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images