Mikel Landa: "Whether Remco can win the Tour? I don't think that's impossible"

Mikel Landa is going to be a key supporting rider for Remco Evenepoel at the upcoming Tour de France, and he certainly believes the team's chances of success.

“That is becoming increasingly difficult for me, because the years pass and new rivals emerge. But in recent years I came close to the final podium. So why should final profit no longer be possible," Landa said in an interview with Sporza. “First of all, I will help the team as much as possible. Sometimes this will be in the service of Remco, sometimes in the service of someone else. I want to support Remco until the end of the mountain stages. That is my job as a climber.” Having signed from Bahrain - Victorious this winter, he was the Belgian team's star transfer, with this exact goal in mind.

The Belgian team is going to be contesting with an ultra-strong Team Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates, and so the Basque rider will be an important in protecting the Belgian against his rivals. “Whether Remco can win the Tour? I don't think that's impossible. But we're not going to put pressure on him yet. Remco is riding the Tour for the first time," he says.

"There are rivals who have each won the Tour twice. We will try to stay as close to them as possible and see where that can take us. But Soudal-Quick Step has already won a Grand Tour with the Vuelta. And the team has been further strengthened," Landa concludes. The two will already race together at the upcoming Volta ao Algarve where they will be getting used to climbing with each other, before tackling bigger goals later in the spring and summer.