Landa: “I’m not in shape, but I hope people are happy with me”

Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) admitted that he did not arrive in the best form conditions Lap which starts this Friday in Utrecht, which will prevent him from fighting for the general, focusing on trying to win a stage.

“I want to be competitive, but this time I didn’t come in the same way as other times or in other races. I’m not here to fight for the general, it’s a shame I’m not good at all, but no matter what happens, I’ll give it my all no matter what happens. Let’s see if I can find overall or partial wins. I hope people will continue to be excited about me,” he said.

Landa, who has not won a stage in the Vuelta since that “special” victory in Andorra in 2015, hopes to raise his arms again, and if possible, in the days of the first week in the Basque Country.

“For me it will be a more comfortable Vuelta for the days we go to Vitoria and the Basque Country. They are nervous stages in which there may be differences. I don’t think they’ll let me go if I don’t lose too much time, but I know the roads and it might be a good chance to try and win.”

Regarding the favorites to take the red shirt on September 11 in Madrid, Landa considers that this time the list of candidates is wider than in other editions.

“There’s a wide range of favorites. Roglic is number one, but there are other candidates like Carapaz, Hindley, Miguel Ángel López and even a runner from my team. You have to spend a few days to see how each one is,” he said.

Landa referred to the muscle problems he experienced before the last Vuelta a Burgos, and despite the fact that he had trained at a good level in recent weeks, the Murgia cyclist did not announce good performances.

“The problem was before Burgos stopped me for a month, then I trained hard up until this point, but I only had a little time and couldn’t do miracles,” he concluded.