Mikel Landa Discussion Thread

[Valv.Piti]

IMO Sky will be a bit uncertain about G as a 2nd Leader and will keep Froome, Mikel and G up there in the GC if they can.
Froome and Landa's personalities are very different and Landa hasn't already been cost a Vuelta as he had to work for Froome. Wiggins didn't like the challenge of a team mate where as I think Froome would use it to his advantage.

I think and hope you are right. Would be nice to see Mikel up there.

 

[staubsauger]

Re:

This is a good point. Landa being in the tour, has his year finish in terms of grand tours possibilities...

But i think he will give everything for froome. He was brilliant with aru.

Landa's certainly gonna help Froome at the Tour in preparation of leading Sky at the Vuelta. Just like Heras did at US Postal.

Landa ain't got much race days and abandoned the Giro after 10 days. He ain't overraced at all. So no problem to add the Vuelta to his schedule after he finished the Tour!

 

[Oliwright]

Re: Re:

This is a good point. Landa being in the tour, has his year finish in terms of grand tours possibilities...

But i think he will give everything for froome. He was brilliant with aru.

Landa's certainly gonna help Froome at the Tour in preparation of leading Sky at the Vuelta. Just like Heras did at US Postal.

Landa ain't got much race days and abandoned the Giro after 10 days. He ain't overraced at all. So no problem to add the Vuelta to his schedule after he finished the Tour!

Although Froome is meant to be dong the Vuelta, so is Konig.

Depends what form is like maybe they go as joint leaders?

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Re:

This is a good point. Landa being in the tour, has his year finish in terms of grand tours possibilities...

But i think he will give everything for froome. He was brilliant with aru.

Landa's certainly gonna help Froome at the Tour in preparation of leading Sky at the Vuelta. Just like Heras did at US Postal.

Landa ain't got much race days and abandoned the Giro after 10 days. He ain't overraced at all. So no problem to add the Vuelta to his schedule after he finished the Tour!

He's there to work and learn:

“We have a leader who has the experience of having won two Tours and a great team at our service,” he told AS. “I will get to know the Tour, learn how to work.

“The goal is not to make the general classification a priority, but do not rule it out if I do not lose time in the first week. I go to the Tour to help and to learn.”


Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/tour-de-france/mikel-landa-going-tour-de-france-work-learn-235234#aDMCYhp1h0h6tlQd.99

Top 10 and a stage win is not beyond him.

 

[Oliwright]

Re: Re:

He'd be such a useful card to play if he is still up there in GC in the Pyranees and if he is on form. If there is only Froome, Quintana, Contador, Nibali, Aru, Roland, Valverde, Thomas etc left. Ie 1or 2 guys left for each the top favourites then I can see Landa attacking 9km out and making Quintana and Contador chase it themselves.

 

[Valv.Piti]

http://elpeloton.net/2016/06/entrevista_mikel_landa_tour/

Interesting interview (despite my lacklustre spanish). They see Quintana as Froome's biggest rival.
I don't mind if Landa wheels Quintana in, I just want him to show the world what a gifted climber he is.

 

[Vesica]

I tried to understand it, but can someone explain this Landa-thing to me. If you ask me he is overhyped. Looking at his results, he is good, but not as good as the CN-Forum would you do believe. Before his breakthrough last year in the Giro he won two stages (in Burgos and Trentino), was fifth in Avenir and had some podium places. Yes, he does climb very well as we have seen in Giro '15, but what did he do any more to prove that he will be a future GT-star or winner?

 

[Singer01]

Re:

I tried to understand it, but can someone explain this Landa-thing to me. If you ask me he is overhyped. Looking at his results, he is good, but not as good as the CN-Forum would you do believe. Before his breakthrough last year in the Giro he won two stages (in Burgos and Trentino), was fifth in Avenir and had some podium places. Yes, he does climb very well as we have seen in Giro '15, but what did he do any more to prove that he will be a future GT-star or winner?

I don't think its what he has done so much as what his top level clearly is, his climbing at the Giro last year was as good as anything we have seen from any of the big 3 in the last 2 or 3 years in my opinion. I cant wait to see him and quintana kick the *** out of each other in the mountains once froome and contador have rode off into the sunset.

 

[AlexNYC]

That was a really good interview: 1) He was rather emphatic that Quintana is the biggest threat to Froome. 2) He doesn't think Froome will be as strong in the Pyrenees as he was in 2013 and 2015. Instead, he expects him to be at his best in the third week, when the race reaches the Alps. 3) He kind of took a jab at Aru. He said that working for Froome was a lot easier than working for Aru.

 

[dutchdescent]

Re:

That was a really good interview: 1) He was rather emphatic that Quintana is the biggest threat to Froome. 2) He doesn't think Froome will be as strong in the Pyrenees as he was in 2013 and 2015. Instead, he expects him to be at his best in the third week, when the race reaches the Alps. 3) He kind of took a jab at Aru. He said that working for Froome was a lot easier than working for Aru.

Source? curious

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

That was a really good interview: 1) He was rather emphatic that Quintana is the biggest threat to Froome. 2) He doesn't think Froome will be as strong in the Pyrenees as he was in 2013 and 2015. Instead, he expects him to be at his best in the third week, when the race reaches the Alps. 3) He kind of took a jab at Aru. He said that working for Froome was a lot easier than working for Aru.

If I understood everything correctly (my Spanish isn't very good) he said:
1) That one of the reasons why Quintana is so dangerous is because he rides very aggressively
3) That the reason why it's easier to ride for Froome is that he has already won gt's, while Aru still hadn't won a gt before the vuelta, so he didn't really "took a jab at Aru". However you can of course interpret and say. that basically means it's easier to ride for a multiple gt winner where it makes sense to trust him, that he will be in contention for the win, than for a rider who has won as many gt's as you but is clearly weaker and you don't really understand why you should help him and not the other way around.

 

[AlexNYC]

Re: Re:

Source? curious

http://elpeloton.net/2016/06/entrevista_mikel_landa_tour/

 

[AlexNYC]

Re: Re:

3) That the reason why it's easier to ride for Froome is that he has already won gt's, while Aru still hadn't won a gt before the vuelta, so he didn't really "took a jab at Aru". However you can of course interpret and say. that basically means it's easier to ride for a multiple gt winner where it makes sense to trust him, that he will be in contention for the win, than for a rider who has won as many gt's as you but is clearly weaker and you don't really understand why you should help him and not the other way around.

I guess it does depend on how you interpret it. To me, it read more like "Froome is clearly better than me right now, whereas Aru isn't".

Also, this section:

Lo cierto es que estoy encantado de trabajar para Chris. Se aprende muchísimo

That could be interpreted as an admission that he wasn't too happy working for Aru last year (and I've always assumed he wasn't).

 

[gregrowlerson]

This night I dreamed that I was Mikel Landa.

I (i.e. Mikel Landa) was caught in a prison but managed to escape. Then Contador and Froome came chasing after me. I was running desperately trying to lose them in a forest and they sent a Warg (one of those big ugly wolf things from LoTR) after me, but it got killed by an ent, because apparently Landa is buddies with ents. Then I stumbled upon a frozen river and I decided I would try to distance Contador and Froome by skating over the frozen river. At that point I was wondering what the time gaps were and somehow I was aware that people on CN were watching this and they were also confused about the time gaps and were complaining about the unreliable GPS. Then it was reported that Landa (i.e. me) had a 2 minute gap, but it wasn't clear whether this gap was on the Froome/Contador group or on another chasing group. Somebody from CN (I think it was Miburo) said that the gap on Froome/Contador was actually much bigger, namely - dead serious, not in a hyperbolic fashion - 2 years. Then I was relieved to know I'd definitively lost my chasers and I woke up.

We need more dreams, and posts like this, on this forum!!

 

[roundabout]

Welp, even if does have days where he is really bad.

Not sure if it was the right idea to do the Dauphine, but let's see in the Pyrenees.

 

[movingtarget]

Welp, even if does have days where he is really bad.

Not sure if it was the right idea to do the Dauphine, but let's see in the Pyrenees.

Maybe he just clocked off early like Nibali.

 

[AlexNYC]

Welp, even if does have days where he is really bad.

Not sure if it was the right idea to do the Dauphine, but let's see in the Pyrenees.

Maybe he just clocked off early like Nibali.

Nibali didn't lose time intentionally, he simply had a terrible day. I fear this was also the case with Landa as Sky was probably looking at him as the second GC option should something happen to Froome, so I don't think he would have lost time on purpose.

 

[Pricey_sky]

I don't buy this 2nd GC option, and to be fair Henao and Thomas are still not far away on GC. For guys like Landa and Poels they will be very important to Froome in weeks 2/3. Better they take it easier and save themselves.

 

[boasson]

Re:

I don't buy this 2nd GC option, and to be fair Henao and Thomas are still not far away on GC. For guys like Landa and Poels they will be very important to Froome in weeks 2/3. Better they take it easier and save themselves.

I think the Sky plan is to have Thomas and Henao in the best shape for the shorter climbs in the first two weeks (short uphills in first week, central massif and Pyrenees). With the main work to come in the alps for the team (maybe defending the yellow jersey) they get two fresh superb climbers added with Poels and Landa as Poels did last year too. Kiri and Nieve as solid 3 weeks men for every stage.

I think the stage to Mt.Ventoux is the first one we see the sky train with all riders in front of Froome. This will be the Sky stage 2016, like they did in Planche de Belles filles 2012, Ax3 Domaines 2013, Pierre St. Martin 2015...

 

[Jolene]

Well? Overhyped? Still ill?

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Well? Overhyped? Still ill? Impeding fatherhood and recently married taken his legs??

went for the giro, got ill. Then came to the tour and did a half decent job. He faded last few mountians, but was relatively strong eariler.
Many people on this forum seem to think that a rider can peak for a race simply by thinking the word "peak". A lot of preperation is put down into reaching top form, and it isn't easy to be at your best a month after what wass supposed to be your main goal of the season.

 

[jalep]

This night I dreamed that I was Mikel Landa.

I (i.e. Mikel Landa) was caught in a prison but managed to escape. Then Contador and Froome came chasing after me. I was running desperately trying to lose them in a forest and they sent a Warg (one of those big ugly wolf things from LoTR) after me, but it got killed by an ent, because apparently Landa is buddies with ents. Then I stumbled upon a frozen river and I decided I would try to distance Contador and Froome by skating over the frozen river. At that point I was wondering what the time gaps were and somehow I was aware that people on CN were watching this and they were also confused about the time gaps and were complaining about the unreliable GPS. Then it was reported that Landa (i.e. me) had a 2 minute gap, but it wasn't clear whether this gap was on the Froome/Contador group or on another chasing group. Somebody from CN (I think it was Miburo) said that the gap on Froome/Contador was actually much bigger, namely - dead serious, not in a hyperbolic fashion - 2 years. Then I was relieved to know I'd definitively lost my chasers and I woke up.

We need more dreams, and posts like this, on this forum!!

hahahaha loved it!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Hasn't been really good in the last 3 GT's after his Giro, but he is a very inconsistent rider unfortunately. He was very good in the real mountains last year in the Vuelta tho, the stage to Els Cortals was tailor-made for a true grimpeur like him and he delivered. That was a good performance, but he has disappointed me a bit this season. But lets not forget he got his early season destroyed, that means a lot. Like A LOT.

Wait for 2017 before declaring him overrated. People often jump way too early to conclusions in a world where marginals means a lot. You really need to be on your game and sometimes sickness etc. will destroy it for you and make you look worse/bad.

 

[liamito]

He will do Vuelta also :surprised:

 

[yaco]

Doubt he is a GT rider. Well suited to his current role.