La Vuelta Ciclista a España

Mikel Landa became one of the only four men this season to conclude two different Grand Tours in the top ten overall, after a relatively quiet final stage in Madrid, which scheduled a 24.6km flat individual time trial that took the riders through Plaza de Cibeles before ending on the Gran Via, where the excellent Mattia Cattaneo posted the third-fastest result thanks to a superb ride.

Fifth at the Tour de France, where he supported Remco Evenepoel on his journey to third – Mikel started his home Grand Tour for the eighth time in his career and rode admirably in what can easily go down as one of the toughest editions of this century due to the combination of heat and hard climbs that took their toll on the peloton. La Vuelta put on the table a total of ten mountain top finishes, and Mikel finished half of these in the top ten, fighting for every inch of the road and never giving up no matter how difficult the conditions were, and constantly going on the attack, thus showing that Landismo lives on even now, in 2024.

Eighth place in Madrid meant that this last Grand Tour of the year became the season’s fourth stage race that 34-year-old Mikel finished in the top ten, after Volta a Catalunya, Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France – a remarkably solid first season in our team’s colors.

“I think we did a good Vuelta. Yes, we had a bad day towards the end, but the team worked hard, showed a lot of commitment and determination, and the overall feeling was great during these three weeks. I can be happy with my final result on the general classification. It’s been a hard race and I suffered, but I received amazing support from the team and the fans, and I want to thank them all for this.”

“I didn’t have the Tour de France legs here and the heat made it extremely difficult especially during what was a quite draining opening week, but I gave my best every single time and fought hard, so at the end of the day I am happy with being eighth here in Madrid”, said T-Rex Quick-Step’s Basque climber after racking up his tenth top-ten finish in a Grand Tour.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images