Mikel Landa, before his first Tour with Soudal: “The demand is still there, but now it is different”
Mikel Landa (Murguía, 1989) competes in a different Tour for him. Change teams, the objective is different, but the ambition remains. The reality is that his best grand tours were always subordinated to others like Froome in the Tour or Aru in the Giro d’Italia, and perhaps that is why he does not rule out anything as Evenepoel’s squire.
ASK. For the first time in a long time, he faces a grand tour without general classification requirements. How are you handling this? Do you feel like you have less pressure?
ANSWER. It’s different, but I still have the pressure to be with Remco until the end, so don’t think there’s less pressure, it’s just different.
Q. What does Remco have that other colleagues you have been with do not have?
R. He is a cyclist who can compete in many types of races and is the best in time trials. He makes the team always have to be with him because he can compete in any stage. He is one of the most complete cyclists in the world.
Remco makes the team always have to be with him because he can compete in any stage. He is one of the most complete cyclists in the world.
Q. There is always talk about doubts about your performance in the high mountains.
A. Well, at the Galibier he was with the best. I don’t think there are any doubts.
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Q: Where do you think you can be most helpful?
R. I think days like Galibier, on mountain days. I hope I can be with him until the end, perhaps in some moment of chaos, when the car cannot give him an indication. Be there, with him, to make the decision of what to do.
Maybe some moment of chaos is where I can help Remco the most, when the car can’t give you an indication
Q. What is he like as a person?
R. The truth is that he is very normal as much as he can because he has a lot of pressure on him, which is also super demanding of himself. He is a very close and nice person, really.
Q. It is your first Tour, do you perceive doubts in him when faced with the unknown?
R. I have seen it as it is: normal. With some doubts before arriving at the Tour, but you see how it is showing in the race. Every day he feels better, he grows, in a good way, and I see him doing well.
Q. How can Soudal knock down Pogacar and Vingegaard?
R. With someone like Remco, someone who can stand up to them in the time trial, who can even put in time and then be at their level to compete for bonuses as he did on another day. Let’s see if in the mountains we can all maintain the level and still not be far away.
Q. How did you experience the merger with Visma?
R. It was a few weeks of uncertainty, but I had spoken with Remco and Patrick (Lefevere) and I had no more news. I believed in this project and luckily it stayed that way.
Q. The Wolfpack is the team that has won the most stages in the history of the Tour. Is that pressure felt inside the bus?
A. It is a fact that I did not know and they told me about it. It is a very ambitious team. Until now they have focused a lot on stages and now it is completely different, they have to manage their efforts a little thinking a little more about the general.
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Q. Is Lefevere as compelling as the image that is transmitted of him?
R. The truth is that he seems very relaxed, at the moment he is not very on top of us, to tell us those things that the press says. Everything is normal.
I have completely changed training. Maybe I notice a little more freshness but, well, it’s difficult to change at this age.
Q. This season has focused on trying to gain a little more explosiveness, do you think it has improved?
R. I have completely changed training. Maybe I notice a little more freshness but, well, it’s difficult to change at this age.
Q. Will there be #FreeLanda this Tour de France again?
R. Maybe one day there will be an opportunity to go for the stage, but I’m telling you, I have my mind set on helping Remco to the fullest, so day by day.
