Landa: “I know my options. I know the Tour is impossible and helping Remco win it motivates me as much as fighting for it”

Mikel, how did you feel at the start of the season?

I started calmer than other years. I’ve been out of running for about a month since the Volta al Algarve and today in the Volta it’s like starting again. I’m looking forward to this part of the season, where I’m looking to get into a rhythm and feel good in competition. I like this Volta.

He said he likes the Volta, a particularly tough edition.

Very tough, I’d say. The Volta is always a difficult race, but I would say that this year was even more difficult. I’m looking forward to see what the sixth stage is like. I went to the Volta with the idea to get into the rhythm of the competition with my new team and leave it with a good point of form, which will help me be well for what comes next.

What will Mikel Landa’s goal be this season?

I want to win a stage in Itzulia and later in the Dauphiné or even in the Volta, but maybe this race came too early for me, and to help Remco (Evenepoel) and the team a lot in the goal we have in the Tour and to do a great Volta.

How did signing for Soudal Quick-Step come about?

I am free and they are interested in me. They told me they wanted me at Remco and I would have my chances too. I liked the idea. I like the team and I have always admired this team. The moment I received the offer I had no doubts.

What do you like most about Soudal?

This is a team with a lot of experience, which works a little in the old fashioned way. They represent a cycling that I do not know as a Belgian and I want to know others.

At its head is the controversial Patrick Lefevere.

He doesn’t hide and says what he thinks. The truth is that until now I have a good relationship with him.

He has already placed himself under Evenepoel’s orders at the Tour of the Algarve and the Belgian champion has applauded his dedication.

Yes. Remco was very grateful for what I did and gave me confidence. I think he is happy. For me, it’s important to feel valued and feel like an important part of the project.

How about Remco over long distances?

He is a man, a child, as normal as he can be but with a special gift for riding a bicycle. Those qualities lead him to compete in the best races in the world from a young age. A kid who needs to mature very quickly, but overall he’s very kind.

He talks about Remco’s youth, he represents in a certain way the new cycling starring young riders who are very popular. How does the 34-year-old fit in with this new bike ride?

Certainly, cycling has changed a lot from the cycling I know. Eventually you will change and get used to it. I still enjoy cycling a lot and I still have a good level of being at the front and when you are there you have so much fun.

Where do you notice the difference between cycling today and ‘yours’?

Today young people come with a lot of information, with many people around them who advise them in many areas, such as nutrition, performance or aerodynamics. They come ready and bursting with their youth. The truth is that the young people came very well prepared and the level has risen a lot.

Is it hard to follow them when they speed up?

Cycling is now decided by seconds. There is a lot of parity and it runs at a very high speed. I’m late, I have ten years left (smiles). Each one has its own characteristics. I don’t think, for example, that Pogacar trains harder than me. Everyone has their own talent.

Before you said that to Soudal they told you that you will have opportunities, what are they?

For example, in Catalunya I will have a lot of freedom and in the Vuelta I will have the freedom to have a good overall.

And, how do you see the Tour de France?

nice The Roglc team’s innovation expands the scope a bit. Hopefully there will be a good match between Vingegaard and Pogacar and Remco joins in, and if all goes well I think he can be close to them.

The other day in an interview with Sepp Kuss, he told me that he felt the heat of the fans, but I think, if there is any rider who has a lot of popularity among the fans, it’s you.

Yes, the truth is that the ‘landistas’ are quite remarkable. They always send me their encouragement and I am very grateful for the support I receive and things other than victories are valued in cycling. Here there is only one winner and in each race more than 170 cyclists.

If you could predict the future, how would you like this season to end for you?

I want to win a stage in Itzulia and the Vuelta and finishing the Vuelta on the podium is my dream. But I also really want to help Remco and help the Tour. This is a project that I love and am excited about. The team is entering uncharted territory and I want to be a part of it. I know my options. I know the Tour is impossible, and helping Remco win it motivates me as much as fighting for it. I feel valued in the team, I think I can contribute things.

Throughout his career he had no problems playing the role of the luxury ‘gregarious’.

No, the truth is that every time I do it with pleasure and now even more. I like Remco as a runner and how he works. I was lucky to work with Chris Froome, Fabio Aru or Richard Carapaz.

What did Remco tell you at Soudal when they discussed your signing?

That he urgently needs someone with experience in grand tours who is willing to go all out for him, if he has no problem doing so and the truth is we are connected.

You closely follow the progress of the Euskaltel team, which you rescued in 2017.

Yes Yes. I stopped linking a long time ago. I helped relaunch it and I’m very happy about it. Every time I see an orange corridor something inside me is troubled.

Are you thinking of closing your professional career at Euskaltel?

I have fantasized about it once. It would be nice, but at the moment it seems difficult.

How will teams like Euskaltel cope with the new cycling? Isn’t there too much inequality?

Ultimately, cycling has become very global and there are teams with big budgets making life difficult for others. The difference between a World Tour team and a Continental team. We get into a bubble where we want more. We want the best, the best preparation and have the best method. There are teams that manage to find good financing and others that don’t.

When you receive an offer for a new team, what do you appreciate the most?

The place they will give me. I want to always be there where they want me, to feel the love. For me, it is very important to have a good atmosphere in the team. Then you start looking at the material, the economic issue and the comforts you might have. But I will repeat, for me the most important thing is that they love you and appreciate you.

You’ve been a professional for 17 years, do you still feel the same passion for cycling as you did on day one?

In this aspect even more than before, I really enjoy training on my roads. The days that I can enjoy my friends and no, no, there is no day that I have difficulty or am too lazy to go out to train.

In your preparation this season, have any aspects changed?

Little, really. This year I changed my coach and my training is different, yes I can be more explosive, but there is no difference.

And he never lost that courage in the mountains that always distinguished him.

Whenever the race allows me, I will try to be an aggressive runner and attack.