Our rider cemented his place on the overall podium of the World Tour event.

Mikel Landa was again the best of the rest at the seven-day race, for the second stage in a row going on the attack and showcasing his solid form that ended up netting him another top three finish. This impressive result saw Soudal Quick-Step’s 34-year-old retain his spot on the podium while widening his gap on the other riders ahead of what should be the easiest stage of the week.

A mammoth 18.5km climb averaging 6.8%, which returned at the race after three years, Port Ainé was the main attraction of a day that included two other classified climbs. As soon as the depleted peloton tackled its first ramps, Soudal Quick-Step over the reins and set a painful pace with neo-pro William Junior Lecerf. When the AlUla Tour runner-up peeled off the front, Jan Hirt moved to the front and put in a huge amount of work, driving the tempo for about five kilometers with Mikel Landa glued to his wheel.

The Basque made his move in the final seven kilometers, opening a gap before race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) counterattacked and rode clear. Landa rode his own tempo and was joined by two other men, together with whom we tried to reduce the margin. Then, two kilometers from home, on the steepest part of the ascent, he kicked again and dropped the others, riding to second atop Port Ainé and clocking up the team’s 30th podium of the season.

“The goal was to gain some more time on the riders behind me in the general classification. The boys did a great job for me and I attacked to see what would happen. I knew getting the victory would be difficult, but I felt good and gave my best, and at the end of the day, I am content with the shape and the team effort. I enjoy the race and we hope for some more good results in the next days”, a confident Mikel said.

 

Photo credit: ©David Ramos / Getty Images

Race details

1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
4:34:25
2 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
0:48
3 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
1:03
4 Wout Poels
Bahrain - Victorious
1:03
5 Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
1:03
6 Aleksandr Vlasov
BORA - hansgrohe
1:10
7 Cristián Rodríguez Martín
1:10
8 Chris Harper
Team Jayco AlUla
1:10
9 Lenny Martinez
Groupama - FDJ
1:10
10 Enric Mas Nicolau
Movistar Team
1:10
29 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
5:12
45 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
9:14
50 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step
10:58
71 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
16:52
89 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
20:37
123 Antoine Huby
Soudal Quick-Step
27:44
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
13:38:12
2 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
2:27
3 Aleksandr Vlasov
BORA - hansgrohe
2:55
4 Lenny Martinez
Groupama - FDJ
3:21
5 Chris Harper
Team Jayco AlUla
3:22
6 Enric Mas Nicolau
Movistar Team
3:27
7 Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
3:34
8 Wout Poels
Bahrain - Victorious
3:34
9 Egan Bernal Gómez
INEOS Grenadiers
3:50
10 João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates
3:52
31 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
9:04
40 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step
14:24
46 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
17:39
53 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
20:29
76 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
31:16
121 Antoine Huby
Soudal Quick-Step
45:29
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
28 pt
2 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
12 pt
3 Nick Schultz
Israel - Premier Tech
10 pt
4 Aleksandr Vlasov
BORA - hansgrohe
7 pt
5 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel
Euskaltel - Euskadi
6 pt
6 Xabier Isasa Larrañaga
Euskaltel - Euskadi
6 pt
7 Jimmy Janssens
Alpecin - Deceuninck
5 pt
8 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
4 pt
9 Stephen Williams
Israel - Premier Tech
4 pt
10 Simone Petilli
Intermarché - Wanty
4 pt
18 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
1 pt
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
55 pt
2 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
40 pt
3 Harold Tejada Canacue
Astana Qazaqstan Team
37 pt
4 Aleksandr Vlasov
BORA - hansgrohe
26 pt
5 João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates
24 pt
6 Steven Kruijswijk
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
20 pt
7 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
16 pt
8 Attila Valter
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
16 pt
9 Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
14 pt
10 Wout Poels
Bahrain - Victorious
14 pt
23 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
4 pt
1 Lenny Martinez
Groupama - FDJ
13:41:33
2 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
0:36
3 Cian Uijtdebroeks
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
1:12
4 Pablo Castrillo Zapater
Equipo Kern Pharma
4:47
5 Valentin Paret-Peintre
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
5:16
6 Johannes Kulset
Uno-X Mobility
5:18
7 Darren Rafferty
EF Education - EasyPost
7:17
8 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
14:18
9 Raúl García Pierna
17:03
10 Matthew Riccitello
Israel - Premier Tech
18:21
21 Antoine Huby
Soudal Quick-Step
42:08
1 Movistar Team 41:08:35
2 Bahrain - Victorious 1:14
3 INEOS Grenadiers 2:24
4 Israel - Premier Tech 7:12
5 Team Visma | Lease a Bike 7:28
6 Soudal Quick-Step 9:25
7 EF Education - EasyPost 11:18
8 UAE Team Emirates 13:45
9 BORA - hansgrohe 14:15
10 Lidl - Trek 14:40

Our road wolves

Related items

Volta a Catalunya: El Landismo vive

Volta a Catalunya: El Landismo vive

19/03/2024 - Race report
Link
Volta a Catalunya - stage 3

Volta a Catalunya - stage 3

20/03/2024 - Road
Link