"If I'm like I was in the Tour, I could fight for the Red Jersey" - Mikel Landa heading to Vuelta a Espana full of confidence

At the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, arguably the leading hope for a Spanish Red Jersey winner, will be Soudal - Quick-Step's experienced leader Mikel Landa. In 2024, the Basque rider has been reborn and raced at a higher level then seen for many years. As such, is a Grand Tour win finally on the cards?

"Winning would be a big deal. This year I already have a big one on my legs and I don't know how my body will respond. I'm a little afraid of that, but well, if I'm like I was in the Tour, it could be, it could be fighting for the red jersey," said Landa at the team hotel on the outskirts of Lisbon, in quotes collected by Mundo Deportivo.

The 34-year-old former Vuelta a Espana stage winner finished 5th overall at his home Grand Tour in 2023 and has a pair of podium finishes at the Giro d'Italia on his palmares. With the lack of a Jonas Vingegaard or Tadej Pogacar on the startlist and Primoz Roglic's fitness levels somewhat unknown, this could be the last great chance Landa has for a Grand Tour triumph.

"I do feel a bit of the pressure of being the leader, and of feeling the desire that people have for me to do something important, for me to do well, for me to be in the same form as in the Tour," he admits, noting the lack of Remco Evenepoel in the Soudal - Quick-Step lineup. "I'm looking forward to it, but I don't know exactly how I feel physically. After the Tour you disconnect a lot, and then it's hard to get back into the swing of things. I think that as the days go by I'll feel better and I hope to have a great return."

"We approached the season like this. I went to the Tour to help Remco and then here at the Vuelta I was going to have my chance. In the end, the Tour went very well for me, so I'm coming to the Vuelta with my homework done. I'm not that old, let's see if I have the strength to endure this Vuelta," Landa continues. "The race is opening up a bit more. I don't think there is a clear favourite, maybe it's Roglic, who has won 3 Laps, who has that bit of a favouritism. Then the rest of us are very evenly matched and the chances of a podium are opening up."