Mikel Landa: "The team and I work to make a great Tour"

Mikel Landa arrived at Bahrain McLaren this season after two on the Movistar Team. He glimpsed that in his new team he could conquer the great objectives he has been dreaming of since at least 2015 and ... Again a misfortune, a hit near home , in Murguía. He seemed so young that he opened the suitcase in February and went to train in Tenerife together with several of his teammates, his assault guard for the Tour de France. "Maybe I forced too much," he recalls this Wednesday in a telematic press conference. He competed in the Vuelta a Andalucía and, although he lost his heads-up with Jakob Fuglsang, he ended up very happy with his overall performance - he dropped to third place after the time of the last stage - and with the overall performance of Bahrain McLaren.

And that's where his season ended so far. He gave up running Paris-Nice , as he had planned, because his body suffered from the abuse and subsequent efforts. Immediately after finishing the French career, confinement Work, roll at home. One day he showed on his social networks the weariness produced by that contraption that allows him to train without feeling the wind on his face or the landscapes, a humorous video with an ax in his hand.

Hitting the road has been a relief and I have felt very good despite being locked up for almost two months

Inside, bad vibes. "I have been in contact with the team and the manager, but fair enough, because I was overwhelmed immediately and more by being locked up for weeks and without a clear future, in full uncertainty."

The hours of roller did not spare them. "In this quarantine I have been very little without the bike, there have been a few days of partying, " says Mikel Landa. "And I have kept the ax, which has been in better weather and there is no need to split wood," he jokes.

The result of all that sacrifice is that with the road again open, you feel completely at ease again. " I'm fine, training again on the road and wanting to keep going . The first day, the feeling was very good, despite having spent so much time, almost two months, locked up. I really enjoyed it. Leaving was a relief", relates.

And, in addition, he thinks that he will have a certain advantage over some rivals due to his experience in starting seasons on the wrong foot , either due to injuries or unexpected situations. "That experience can be good for me and I am quite calm. Other years I would return when the others were normal and now we are all starting from a very similar situation, I am calm ."

Having so many people at my disposal to help me win pushes me to feel more ambition

He has also gained somewhat in ambition by switching to Bahrain McLaren. "Man, you are seeing that the years go by and the opportunities too . Getting here and having so many people at my disposal looking for me and wanting to help me win maybe pushes me to feel a little more ambition."

It no longer moves in uncertainty. Landa does not want to imagine that everything is a dream and finally the Tour de France and the approved calendar in the International Cycling Union are not disputed. "With this new schedule we will have to prioritize the objectives a lot . Both the team and I are working to make a great Tour. We will take advantage of all the races from before to prepare well, do a good Tour and then do what we can ... But in the only head is the Tour, "he says excitedly. The first stage round that appears on the list is the Vuelta a Burgos, a talisman test for Landa, who does not know if he will be able to run between July 29 and August 2. "It is a race that I really like, I have good memories and every time I run it it is special, although we have not discussed it with the team. It would be a good start. If possible," he admits.

Without fear

Mikel Landa, like everyone in all types of activity, is unable to predict how he will adapt to the 'new normal' cycling. "A new cycling? It will be different, more precipitous and more intense, but we will not know how it will be until we are there. And the Tour will come without previous long distance races to serve as a thermometer, so the situation will be so different that nobody will be able to guess . on the other hand, if you run cooler, so there will be no problem for runners finish the Tour to the same level as we started. "

He doesn't want to think negative either, he flatly refuses. Thinking of contagions within the platoon when it is rolled has it internally prohibited. "I want to think that we are going to forget everything external and in the competition in which we have known until now." And since he has been in Murguia, his town, he has not seen himself in situations that make him think badly. "I am not concerned about the group because I have not known crowds now that make me feel this fear. I am confident that we will run with all the health guarantees."

The team manager has already told me that he trusted me when there were rumors about Froome and I appreciate his trust.

Short calendar, long season

Everything is new, uncertain and complicated. When asked to double Tour and Lap, he is cautious. "By the times, with a month between the two, we would say yes. But although the calendar is short in time, the season will be long in the end, because we have been training since December. In these times of hiatus, who else will have the least made his donkeys on the roller . And with the return to the highway we will add many kilometers. We are going to arrive at August with a lot of desire to run and with a lot of desire to finish ".

As for his rivals for the Tour de France, Landa believes that there may be some setback due to the rarities of this season, but in the end he cites the names that have already won the most important round of world cycling. " The favorites will always be there . Thomas, winner two years ago and second in the past, Bernal, Roglic ... It is difficult to say who will win. I see myself on the podium, why not. We are going to fight for it" , it states. He previously said that he cannot "get into Frooome's head" to find out what his situation may be. And that at no time was he haunted by rumors that he could be on his team again just now. "The manager has said he trusts me and I appreciate that trust," he says. Chris Froome, at least this year, will not be racing at the Bahrain McLaren.

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