La Vuelta Ciclista a España

Mikel Landa scored his first podium of the year on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España after a brilliant ride in the breakaway. The Basque, who is riding his home Grand Tour for the ninth time, was one of the strongest riders in the 17-man group which formed after 50 kilometers and where he had for company T-Rex Quick-Step teammate Mauri Vansevenant.

It was a fast stage, especially in the first part, but this didn’t seem to bother the 35-year-old from Murgia, who was one of the most active riders in the breakaway, as underlined not just by his solid turns at the front, but also by the two big attacks he launched on Alto da Groba and Alto de Prado. These two moves ended up making an important selection in the front group, to the point that with only 15 kilometers to go, it was just him and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) in the lead.

That was the moment when the organisers announced that due to another protest on the final climb, the stage would be shortened and conclude instead eight kilometers from the line, with the times set to be taken there, at the start of the ascent. Landa did his best on the rolling roads to the new finish, but was passed by the Colombian with 50 meters left and had to settle for second – our team’s eighth Grand Tour podium of the season. The general classification men concluded a couple of minutes later and Junior Lecerf kept his place in the top ten with five stages to go.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images