Mikel Landa is back racing this week, taking on the Vuelta a Burgos, his first outing since suffering a fractured vertebra in a crash on the opening day of the Giro d'Italia. The Spanish climber is using the five-day event to prepare for the upcoming Vuelta a España.
Soudal-QuickStep racer Landa hasn't raced since that fall in Tirana on May 9 and returns to Burgos, the scene of both his first professional victory 14 years ago and his most recent in 2021.
Speaking to AS, the 35-year-old sought to temper any high expectations ahead of the Vuelta, noting that his goal in Burgos is to "get into a rhythm" and that he'll be satisfied just to be at the start of the final Grand Tour of the season in Turin.
"My goal is something else," Landa said, when asked if he's aiming to add to his career haul of three stage wins and two overall titles in Burgos.
"My goal is to see where I am, get into a rhythm, and forget about what happened in the last race.
"The goal is still to be at the start of La Vuelta. I'm not thinking about anything else right now. If I can get there, I think I'll be satisfied."
Home fans at the Vuelta will be hoping for one dose of Landismo before the season ends, with Spanish GC hopes at the moment resting entirely on the shoulders of Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Enric Mas (Movistar), a four-time podium finisher at the race, won't be taking part, having drawn a line under his 2025 season after he was diagnosed with thrombophlebitis – likely due to a crash at the Tour de France.
Landa, meanwhile, told AS that he "still has a lot of doubts" upon his return to racing, saying that he'll take it day by day at Burgos. He has navigated the opening pair of largely flat stages without any major setbacks and heads into stage 3 in 42nd place at 21 seconds off race leader Roger Adriá (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
The bigger tests lie ahead, however, including two upcoming hilly stages and the summit finish finale at Lagunas de Neila, where Landa won in 2011.
"Now I have a lot of doubts, worries about how I feel, if my back is responding well, if my legs are responding. I'm going to take it day by day," Landa said.
"I had high hopes for the Giro, and what happened was a huge blow. The injury was tough too, something I didn't know about, and I've had injuries before. But this was the first time I've had this one."
Landa still has one year remaining on his deal with Soudal-QuickStep, where he was signed to support Remco Evenepoel's GC ambitions.
With the Belgian breaking his contract and moving away to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe for 2026, that leaves the Basque racer in a position to race for GC at the Tour de France next season.
But Landa isn't thinking about that now, only planning for the upcoming Vuelta, he said.
"I'm not thinking about that yet," he said. "The truth is that I came here with another goal in mind, and it's not the time to think about that yet."
