“Today was the last chance” - Mikel Landa completes emotional Vuelta redemption after worst season of his career
Cycling
Mikel Landa described his relief and emotion after transforming a deeply difficult 2026 season with victory on the queen stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The 36-year-old Spaniard rode alone to the summit of the Collado del Alguacil after dropping Tobias Halland Johannessen and Ramses Debruyne on the brutally steep final climb. It was a dramatic late intervention from a rider who had barely featured during the opening 19 stages of the race.
Landa had previously described 2026 as the worst season of his career. With his time at Soudal – Quick-Step also approaching its end, the penultimate stage represented one of his final opportunities to salvage something significant from the campaign.
Landa seizes his final opportunity
Landa began the decisive phase of the stage several minutes behind the original breakaway, having formed part of the enormous chase that developed during a chaotic opening half of the race.
He gradually worked his way towards the front before joining Debruyne and Johannessen on the Puerto de El Duque, the penultimate climb. The trio carried a substantial advantage into the Collado del Alguacil, where gradients reaching beyond 20 per cent immediately began to separate the remaining contenders.
Landa attacked twice with approximately seven kilometres remaining. Johannessen was the first to lose contact before Debruyne also surrendered, leaving the Basque alone at the head of the race. “I’m very happy. It’s something I’ve been looking for for a long time, and finally I win,” Landa said in his immediate post-stage interview. “It’s very emotional.”
Johannessen initially remained within striking distance, but Landa continued extending his advantage as the gradients rose again. By the final kilometre, the stage was securely in his hands. “It’s been a really hard season, a really hard Vuelta for me,” he acknowledged. “Today was the last chance.”
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One final act of Landismo before an Euskaltel return
The win offered a reminder of the rider behind the enduring Landismo following. Landa built his reputation through climbing attacks and ambitious Grand Tour performances, but little had gone his way during his final season with Soudal - Quick-Step until he reached the steepest kilometres of the Vuelta’s queen stage.
His next chapter will take him back to Basque cycling. Landa is set to join Euskaltel-Euskadi for 2027, leaving the WorldTour for a ProTeam at the age of 36.
That move also means another Grand Tour appearance cannot be guaranteed. Euskaltel-Euskadi will require an invitation to compete in the three-week races, leaving open the possibility that the Collado del Alguacil was among Landa’s final opportunities to win on cycling’s biggest stage.
His Soudal - Quick-Step career still has one flat stage remaining in Granada, but its final mountain chapter belonged completely to him. After a season in which almost nothing had fallen his way, Landa rode the closing kilometres alone, out of the saddle and back at the centre of the race.
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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