Stage races Mikel Landa Meana (born 13 December 1989) is a Spanish Basque professional road cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Soudal–Quick-Step.
In 2015, Landa attacked from a breakaway on the final climb of the day to win the fifth stage of his home race, the Tour of the Basque Country.
[11] Landa rose to third overall on Stage 10, when Richie Porte (Team Sky) was given a time penalty for accepting a wheel change from Orica–GreenEDGE rider Simon Clarke.
However, the next day, Landa won the mountainous Stage 15 after attacking Contador on the final climb to Madonna di Campiglio, and proving stronger than Aru, who he finished six seconds ahead of.
On the first of two climbs to Aprica, Contador suffered a mechanical problem, after which Team Katusha and Astana immediately pressed on the pace at the front, sparking a bit of controversy over respect and fair play.
[14] After a long chase Contador eventually caught up with Landa, Aru and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL–Jumbo) on the Mortirolo after being 52 seconds down at the start of the climb.
[15] However, on Stage 19 it was Aru who proved the stronger of the two, attacking on the final climb to Breuil-Cervinia and taking 1 minute and 18 seconds on Contador and Landa, who did not respond to his move.
On Stage 20, the last mountain stage, Landa attacked on the Colle delle Finestre, taking the Cima Coppi for crossing the highest point of the race in the lead as he crossed the summit with Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha), a minute ahead of Aru and a minute and a half ahead of Contador.
[16] Landa rode the Vuelta a España again in support of Aru, after Astana's other leader Vincenzo Nibali was disqualified on the second stage for holding onto a team car.
Landa won the mountainous stage 11 from Andorra la Vella to Cortals d'Encamp from the breakaway, ignoring team orders to drop back and assist Aru.
[18] After missing several early season races through illness, Landa made his first appearance for Team Sky at the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali, finishing 11th overall.
[21] Landa abandoned the Giro d'Italia part-way through Stage 10 after being hampered by illness overnight and being diagnosed with viral gastroenteritis.
[33] On Stage 15, Froome suffered a broken spoke on the Peyra Taillade climb, but with some assistance from Landa and other teammates, he was able to chase back up to the group before the summit.
Having entered the top ten overall following stage 9, Landa moved up the general classification in the final week of the race.
Landa started his 2021 season – with the renamed Team Bahrain Victorious – with a trio of Italian races, including Tirreno–Adriatico, where he finished third overall.