"It was the last chance... but it was impossible" - Mikel Landa rolls the dice on final climb of La Vuelta 24 but can't move up GC

The 2024 Vuelta a Espana is not going to end as Mikel Landa would've hoped, far from it. After the Soudal - Quick-Step (T-Rex Quick-Step for this edition of the Spanish Grand Tour) disaster on stage 18, the Basque was left out of the overall, and tried to go for the win on the Picón Blanco queen stage this Saturday.

However, all the effort of the team and Landa himself was insufficient, with Eddie Dunbar taking his second win in La Vuelta. Landa did roll the dice with a late attack from less than 1 km to go, but his legs gave out and he finished in 8th place. Speaking just after the end of the stage, Mikel Landa surprisingly pointed the finger at the Soudal - Quick-Step team, despite the fact that the Belgian-based team has had its work cut out for it throughout the Vuelta a España, with its rights and wrongs.

"It was the last chance, always against the best in the race and it's tough. It's all in the balance. I expected this chase, I knew it was going to be difficult to surprise. We wanted to break the race a little bit and leave the strongest riders in the general classification, but it was impossible. We have a more rolling team and it was difficult to do more damage," said Landa at the end of stage 20.