"This reminds you how cruel this sport is" - Mikel Landa still in pain following Itzulia crash; Tour de France still uncertain
Cycling
Mikel Landa suffered a hard crash at Itzulia Basque Country. He escaped the one that left out his leader Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic because he was leading the peloton, but the next day in the first kilometers he went to the ground and had to leave the race with a neck brace in an ambulance.
Now, weeks later, the Soudal Quick-Step rider continues with his recovery and with discomfort. In an interview with Ciclo 21 he claims to still be in pain although he expects to race the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, his two big goals for 2024:
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"I am sore. There are days when I'm better and others when I'm worse. Luckily, it's an injury I'm familiar with. I've broken my collarbone and ribs before. With a little patience everything will be fine and I'll be able to be in the Tour and Vuelta."
He regrets that the injury has come when he was in a great moment of form (he was second at the Volta a Catalunya behind Tadej Pogacar): "Mentally it was something I did not expect. I hadn't fallen for a long time, without a serious injury, and it came just when I least expected it. I was in a good moment of form, to be honest. I was really enjoying it, as I hadn't enjoyed it for a long time".
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"I was having fun, I didn't care about anything, it was just the bike, having fun and attacking wherever. But well, this reminds you how cruel this sport is," said the rider from Alava, who should be Remco Evenepoel's key man in the upcoming Tour de France.
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- "c'mon Jonas!"wrsty05-11-2026
- I see I missed a lot during my boycott.Jumpyjohn05-11-2026
- What kind of sauce is on that rice? Ketchup?Kbd05-11-2026
- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
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