Mikel Landa: Quixote or Pantani?

• Alaphilippe Loses the lead due to suspension after Van Aert's victory

Without

in his team, Mikel Landa has the

attached.

Enjoy in the Bahrain-McLaren a company that does not sow doubt: it is the

in the Tour de France.

With confidence strengthened, during this strange coronavirus season he appeared again the day before as a

, the one who escaped him for a second in 2017.

But this hybrid runner between Quijote or Pantani de Murguía, who changes his mount and weapon every two years since the bankruptcy of the Euskaltel-Euskadi at the end of 2013,

.

The Tour arrives and the first stage falls, like 80% of the peloton (and the pain in the ribs from the run over in January is reborn).

It is not for much.

last year, which in addition to consequences cost him a loss of more than two minutes in Albi's goal.

In fact, in the stages after his maiden crash he has wasted no time and has remained in the group of favorites,

.

The first, in the front

In that first stage on the slippery roads of Nice, luck sent him its

.

His fall was nothing compared to that of

, a squire from Alicante who was going to be very valuable to Landa in the mountains but who left in an ambulance with a

.

, the second star of the Arab team, swarms these days with permanent suffering, a cracked rib, an inflamed lung and labored breathing.

This Wednesday, in an unusual stage without escapes or threats, they have awarded Poels with the distinction of

, since in each acceleration, hill or small gate, he stayed in the group;

afterwards, he recovered the last wheel of the peloton and remained there until the next crisis.

To their suffering

In the race, he is followed by exhaustive medical treatment in the bubble hotel every night and a good night's sleep that could

to contribute to the team in the two decisive weeks.

The Tour de France is not usually a good recovery room and the one that starts badly usually ends worse.

.

The Alava leader's concerns about these two serious setbacks are balanced by the good behavior of his compadre from Gernika,

, a very important stronghold for him, and the rest of his forces.

These days Bahrain has been seen with a good line of work in the crucial moments of the stages and Landa responding adequately.

Perhaps the line-up of Italian

, a sprinter and middle-class classic-man,

could be discussed

, especially when he is seen to be fused at the gates of the sprint, as today in Privas.

For the rest,

.

If the tactical intelligence and the forces of the leader were added to emerge triumphant from stages like this Thursday's, Mikel Landa's actions would experience a

monumental

.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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