A look back on Mikel Landa's performances over the year and how he looks towards Tour de France
Cycling
Mikel Landa's numbers in 2023 are pretty good. The Bahrain Victorious leader has raced a total of five races and has managed to finish in the top 10 overall in all of them against some of the best riders in the world. As he builds towards the Tour de France the signs are quite promising.
Mikel started the season by finishing seventh in the classification of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in a race in which he helped teammate Pello Bilbao to victory.
In the Vuelta a Andalucía he finished second overall behind an unapproachable Tadej Pogacar. However, it was Enric Mas who gave the best sensations in the Andalusian race, holding the Slovenian better in the mountains. Landa took advantage of his consistency to net an important runner-up spot.
The Tirreno Adriatico had a course not very suitable for his characteristics, with short and explosive climbs, and with a strong headwind blocking the only mountain stage. He tried on some of those climbs, but without luck, and finished seventh overall.
VOLTA A CATALUNYA
In the Volta a Catalunya Mikel was a luxury spectator of the fight between Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, but nothing more. He finished fifth in the general classification, being surpassed by the UAE Team Emirates duo João Almeida and Marc Soler in the fight for the podium.
In the Itzulia, Mikel clearly improved his performance compared to Catalunya and was more active, motivated, we imagine, by riding at home. He tried some attacks from a distance, although without much luck. In any case, he had no chance against Jonas Vingegaard, the final winner of the race. He deservedly finished second in his best race of the year.
GOAL: TOUR DE FRANCE
Mikel Landa's big goal in 2023 is the Tour de France and that's where we will see his real level compared to the rest of the competitors. With Pogacar and Vingegaard in a superior, we will have to see if he is ready to fight with the second level of favourites and is capable of putting on a show.
He is highly motivated for the start in Bilbao, but the first stages in the Basque Country are not suited to his characteristics and it will be difficult for him to shine, but he will be motivated.
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Juan LarraCycling Journalist
Juan Larra is a writer for Cyclinguptodate and editor-in-chief of Ciclismoaldia, where he has played a central role since its inception. Under his leadership, the website has become a trusted source for professional cycling coverage, offering in-depth analysis, news, and feature stories.
A sports journalist with over 20 years of experience, Juan earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Seville in 2007. He began his career covering a wide range of sports—including football, basketball, Formula 1, MotoGP, tennis, and cycling—for platforms such as the official La Liga app, Vodafone and Movistar websites, NBA Blogdebasket, and Cadena Cope, honing his skills in writing and editorial management.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Juan contributes to Cyclinguptodate and serves as editor-in-chief for the tennis-focused site Tenisaldia. Throughout his career, he has conducted exclusive interviews with cyclists and sports figures, provided detailed analysis of competitions ranging from local Spanish races to major international events, and acted as a special correspondent at prestigious races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España.
Juan’s combination of experience, expertise, and direct access to athletes has established him—and the platforms he leads—as authoritative voices in professional cycling.
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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