"Every time I talk about the Giro d'Italia, I smile" - Mikel Landa determined to enjoy the 2025 season amidst rumours of retirement
Cycling
Mikel Landa has been a leading light of Spanish Grand Tour cycling for over a decade now. As the 2025 season nears and rumours grow of his imminent retirement, the Soudal - Quick-Step climber is determined to enjoy himself in the coming year.
One of the main goals of 2025 season for Landa is the Giro d'Italia, a race he's twice finished on the podium in 2015 and 2022. "Yes, it brings back good memories. I think I made my mark there. I discovered a new side of myself there. Since then, every time I talk about the Giro, I smile," the 35-year-old says of his love affair with the Italian Grand Tour in conversation with Marca. "This year I really want to go back."
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Having not raced the Giro since 2022, Landa expressed his desire to return to Italy with those in charge at Soudal - Quick-Step. "We talked a little bit. We shared our ideas. I had been doing the Tour and Vuelta for years and I wanted to change things up and go back to the Giro, which I missed," he explains. "Winning is a big deal, but I have had some years when I was doing very well and in the end, for one reason or another, I was not able to compete or try my best. Winning, in any case, is a big deal."
The closest Landa came to winning the Maglia Rosa, came in 2015, finishing 3rd and winning two stages. "Nobody expected how far I could go. It was a bit of a discovery for me. I was left wanting to know how far I could push Alberto Contador at that moment. But I learned a lot and, every time I see those stages now, I say 'What a start I had! How things have changed!'" Landa recalls. "We (Landa and Contador) have never talked about it. It is true that we have met in some interviews, but we have not relived those battles. I am looking forward to doing it with him."
"I showed promise there. I aimed high. But I have always been close to that. In that Giro there was not the participation of this year, for example, where it seems that Vingegaard, Roglic, Ayuso, Yates will be there... It was a different Giro," Landa adds in conclusion. "Things have changed a lot. The cyclist is now a much more complete rider. I am a pure climber who suffers on the other terrains. I cannot do better."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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