Mikel Landa Discussion Thread

[Rollthedice]

Bravo Landani.

 

[Forever The Best]

Well planned and well executed raid. But what was Quintana doing on the final climb?

 

[Forever The Best]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/landa-regains-tour-de-france-momentum-with-long-distance-attack/

Landismo never dies.

 

[Salvarani]

Hope he will be strong in the third week. Could gain some more time back and who knows. A lot of climbing left.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Re:

Hope he will be strong in the third week. Could gain some more time back and who knows. A lot of climbing left.

I just hope that the time lost because of that crash won't haunt him in the end...

 

[Salvarani]

Re: Re:

Hope he will be strong in the third week. Could gain some more time back and who knows. A lot of climbing left.

I just hope that the time lost because of that crash won't haunt him in the end...

Yeah, I know. But on the other hand, if he wasnt that far back. Maybe the others wouldnt have let him go yesterday. You have to take that into account also.

 

[gregrowlerson]

What should Landa do now?

This guy is just about the most consistent climber in GT's. He just always finds a way to lose silly serious time somewhere. But this season he has placed fourth in the Giro, not far off the podium; and now sixth at the Tour, where without the time lost in the crash/crosswinds, he would be within a minute of the podium. Considering that nobody else who did the Giro did well in the Tour, could he have won the Tour if he didn't ride the Giro? If you take away stage 10, he wouldn't have had to have been all that much stronger to have taken yellow.

2015, strongest in the third week in the Giro, finishers third. Later that season he wasn't competitive in the GC in the Vuelta, but still won the Queen stage. In 2016 he was ill in the Tour from memory, and in the 2017 Giro he suffered more bad luck which took him out of GC calculations, yet he still continued on to win two stages in the mountains. And with that race in his legs, he places fourth in the Tour, one second off the podium.

It just seems like Landa should win a GT one day. From now on maybe he should just go Giro/Vuelta every season. Two chances a year; he probably has a few more years to contend. The odds are that at some stage the stars will align for him I think.

 

[Valv.Piti]

With Carapaz and Quintana gona, Landa is the best GC rider on Movistar next year.

I think he should continue his Giro-Tour approach which seems to be working fine. He is on a very high level in both races normally, same thing in 2017. Obviously needs to look at the routes first. Then have Mas as a backup in the Tour and have mas ride the Vuelta as well. Valverde as the joker.

He just needs a bit of luck. And even if he doesnt have that, he is a gift to the bike races. If not for the actual attacks, then for expectations and myths about ihm at least.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Re:

With Carapaz and Quintana gona, Landa is the best GC rider on Movistar next year.

Landa could leave the team...

https://www.marca.com/ciclismo/tour-francia/2019/07/27/5d3c6725268e3ec8708b4608.html

 

[Red Rick]

I would hope Landa goes Giro/Vuelta unless the routes indicate otherwise. He's done two very good Tours after having done the Giro, but I don't think the race suits him especially with his tendency to lose a truckload of time in early stages. And even if he was good this Tour, the freshness was kinda gone.

I'd really hope he stays at Movistar honestly

 

[Nirvana]

Re:

I would hope Landa goes Giro/Vuelta unless the routes indicate otherwise. He's done two very good Tours after having done the Giro, but I don't think the race suits him especially with his tendency to lose a truckload of time in early stages. And even if he was good this Tour, the freshness was kinda gone.

I'd really hope he stays at Movistar honestly

He hasn't done anyrhing GC wise in the Vuelta and showed already two times that he can be competitive at least for a podium in both Giro and Tour, why should he change his approach? The ones that needs to avoid the Tour are the riders that waste a season to focus on the Tour like Bardet and Pinot, not him.

Anyway he needs another leader to perform at his maximum, also this Tour after Quintana cracked on Prat d'Albis and he established himself as the team primary option he wasn't the same as before.