Mikel Landa & Pello Bilbao 'Unlimited Society'

Mikel Landa and Pello Bilbao are old acquaintances who have met again in the same team, the Bahrain McLaren. With gallons, although the leadership is very defined in favor of Alava, thinking about the Tour de France. Today they start together the Tour of Andalusia .

They have been rivals since they left Euskaltel-Euskadi, due to the closure of the business, in 2013. In the penultimate stage of the 2019 Giro, with a final in Croce d'Aune , Pello won Mikel the sprint and achieved his second victory in the great Italian round. "Yes, I have a grudge!" Landa jokes with laughter included. "He's going to find out, I'm going to fill him with drums like a condemned man, he screwed up the year, hahaha ..." Finished the laughter, the seriousness: "I'm glad it was he who won me. He's in this team for he himself, neither for me nor for anyone. It is true that his signing had my approval, of course. Pello is at the McLaren Bahrain on his own merits . "

If Mikel Landa left the Movistar Team in search of a success not found, Pello Bilbao began his Astana march with triumphs in luggage .

"Mikel already told me at the beginning of last year that he had the opportunity with Bahrain, that he was valuing that option and had been asked about me," says Pello Bilbao. " That a team is interested in you at the beginning of a season is something to keep in mind . We knew that McLaren was going to enter and that the project was changing, but not much more. He encouraged me to make the decision to have a reference, a friend to whom you know a long time ago , "explains the Biscay.

The relationship began as opponents in youth. "Once we agreed on the podium, in the youth Bizkaiko Bira . Then we were partners in the Naturgas, I as a first-year amateur and he in the second. There you already saw that it was the reference of the team, which had a special engine and they gave him the opportunity to go to the Orbea, "Bilbao recalls in reference to the year 2008. In 2009, Pello made the same transit to the Basque Continental team and the Euskaltel, as if he were chasing Landa . Until 2013, when their paths separated. They have met again this season.

"Our relationship is working, we get along well but we don't live so close as to train together. We have known each other for so long and we agreed in so many careers that the relationship has been maintained, sometimes by phone. It motivates me to work for someone I know . I know what it is like and what it can give, "says Pello, who also has a clear role in the McLaren Bahrain.

"I have no doubt what they want from me here: that I arrive at the Tour de France at 100%. It is the main and unquestionable objective. They want it to be a key piece for the Tour team that will seek overall victory with Mikel ", specifies Bilbao.

Pello Bilbao leaves no loose end when he says: " When I signed the contract, the ideas were very clear from the beginning: part of the season focused on Mikel and achieving the goals with him and another part of the season, for my own goals and possibilities. Everyone knows what he is going to and knows what he has . "

The tour accompanies us, we have a motivated leader and aware of the occasion that presents itself. The team is clear and he already has maturity and experience to face the Tour as leader

Bilbao's confidence in Landa seems solid : "So far he has missed his opportunity or believe in his possibilities ... He has not been given the opportunity to take full responsibility as a leader and face a journey for him. This year seems that everything fits together and we are aware that it can be your great possibility . The tour is with us, we have a motivated leader and aware of the occasion that presents itself. The team is clear and he already has maturity and experience to face the Tour as Leader".

But to the Mikel & Pello society, a third leg must be added: the Basque coach Aritz Arberas , who has come with Bilbao from Astana. "I have spent the last three seasons with him and at the time I was closing my contract with Bahrain his name came out, because I was interested in continuing to work with him and the team was also interested directly, with the reference they had of me and Mikel who has known him for a long time too, "says Pello Bilbao. In those days of the amateur Naturgas the director was Arberas. " Artitz is a guarantee, I know that with his method it worked well , we understand each other perfectly and having a coach close to home is a bargain when doing work after motorcycle ... It's a plus," says Bilbao.

The Biscay is placed at the orders of Alavés already in the Tour of Andalusia, but the mind is in the goal of the summer, of the year: Tour de France. And Pello is in no hurry to be the one who leads the team. "It's not just a matter of engine, you have to be used to working as a leader and that's why I think Mikel has more experience than me . If it's organized this way there's no more doubts. I'll have my chance in three-week races. I just enjoyed it in one time, in the 2018 Giro, and I want to have that opportunity again that I think is going to offer me the Tour of Spain this year, "concludes Bilbao.

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