The Vuelta a España 2024 is close to it's start. On August 17, the peloton will take the start in Lisbon, in a very open edition where Spanish cycling can see again a winner of the general classification 10 years later with the presence of a clear candidate: Mikel Landa.
No local rider has won the Spanish Grand Tour since Alberto Contador in 2014, ahead of Chris Froome and Alejandro Valverde. However, in a year in which the lineup of participants is not the most prominent in its history, far from it, the 34-year-old Soudal Quick-Step rider is facing his big chance, as analysed by CiclismoAlDia.
Below, we look at the 3 reasons why we believe Landa is capable of finishing the three-week race as the brand new winner of the Vuelta a España 2024.
1. No major rivals for Mikel Landa
At the moment, there are no major rivals in the potential fight for the overall. That's a fact. Right now, Sepp Kuss looks like the big favorite for the win because of his status as reigning champion, when Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic ceded the win to him in 2023 after his outstanding performance over the three weeks.
And it's not like Kuss is in spectacular form either. Now in the Vuelta a Burgos, the American is competing for the first time since his retirement by COVID in the Tour de France before he can start the Grande Boucle. The same goes for Enric Mas, another favorite. The Movistar Team rider, although he finished the Tour well, was soon out of the fight for the overall, the same thing that happened to him in the previous Tour de Suisse.
In addition, neither Tadej Pogacar nor Jonas Vingegaard will be there, two riders against whom Landa would have nothing to do. Remco Evenepoel won't be at La Vuelta either, so the Basque rider won't be forced to act as his domestique. The only unknown is Primoz Roglic, who as he had to abandon the Tour de France due to a crash, the door to the Spanish grand tour was opened for him, but Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe has not yet given any clues that the Slovenian could be there.
Mikel Landa together with João Almeida (5th and 4th) at the Tour de France. @Sirotti
2. A very tough course that does not scare him because of his great Tour de France
The route of this Vuelta a España 2024 will be very hard, and Mikel Landa is one of the best climbers in the peloton. In addition, it is worth remembering that he has just finished 5th in the overall classification of the Tour de France, as the best Spaniard in the race, and being at all times the main assistant of Evenepoel in the high mountains.
He himself, in statements made after finishing the Grande Boucle, said he was looking forward to arriving at La Vuelta. Landa is aware that he will land in Lisbon with practically unbeatable legs. This year's Grand Tour will feature six flat stages, 13 medium and high mountain stages (nine mountain stages), and two time trials.
3. The significant lack of pressure at Soudal Quick-Step
The third most important point when it comes to Mikel Landa's ability to compete to win the Vuelta a España is his role at Soudal Quick-Step. The 34-year-old arrived at the Belgian team last winter with a simple goal: to be Remco Evenepoel's main domestique in the Tour de France, as mentioned above.
The success was absolute, with Evenepoel taking 3rd overall in his Grande Boucle debut as the best of the rest behind Pogacar and Vingegaard, plus the aforementioned 5th place for Landa behind João Almeida. So it can be said that their homework was done.
This is crucial to arrive at La Vuelta without pressure. Mikel Landa is not the star of Quick-Step, Remco Evenepoel is. So he can't be required to compete for the victory. After the Tour, everything is welcome. Landa will do his race and, if he maintains the level he has given in France, I am absolutely sure he will be there in the fight to become the new winner of the great Spanish Tour.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 3visitors 3
Top comment
mobk07-08-20246
Almeida and Yates?
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
Loading
3 Comments