{"id":258933,"date":"2026-08-21T09:12:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/i-havent-even-enjoyed-any-training-this-year-its-been-that-bad-mikel-landa-in-survival-mode-at-the-vuelta-a-espana\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T09:12:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:12:44","slug":"i-havent-even-enjoyed-any-training-this-year-its-been-that-bad-mikel-landa-in-survival-mode-at-the-vuelta-a-espana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/i-havent-even-enjoyed-any-training-this-year-its-been-that-bad-mikel-landa-in-survival-mode-at-the-vuelta-a-espana\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;I haven&#8217;t even enjoyed any training this year, it&#8217;s been that bad&#8217; &#8211; Mikel Landa in survival mode at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-a99ce20a-9cd3-11f1-b1cb-a35ead965f22\">11 years ago, Mikel Landa rode what was defined at the time as the &#8216;hardest stage ever of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a&#8217; through Andorra over more than 5,000 vertical metres &#8211; and ended up winning.<\/p>\n<p>This time round, when the Vuelta reaches Andorra on stage 4 and once again tackles a non-stop series of climbs, Landa&#8217;s in a very different place.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"ecom-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-a99ce20a-9cd3-11f1-b1cb-a35ead965f22-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I&#8217;ll be fighting to survive through the first week and then I&#8217;ll see what I can do,&#8221; Landa told reporters at the Place Grimaldi press centre.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[10px] lg:my-8\" data-component-name=\"JwPlayer:Carousel\" data-jwp-carousel=\"\" data-jwp-carousel-payload=\"{&quot;ids&quot;:{&quot;playerID&quot;:&quot;jYDCcabO&quot;,&quot;searchPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;divID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;fallbackPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;fallbackDivID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;key&quot;:&quot;X9\\\/mXVGac0NphghLH9hZaqWA5d3dhAM\\\/Ih07grnEyMLjuO2E&quot;,&quot;tintLogo&quot;:true,&quot;useSearchPlaylist&quot;:false,&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;signPostingEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;signPostingLinkEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;waitForAdLoad&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnDesktop&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnMobile&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnTablet&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-nowrap items-center justify-between gap-3 bg-zinc-900 px-[14px] py-3\" data-jwp-carousel-header=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-article-heading capitalize leading-5 text-white whitespace-nowrap\"><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-mobile\"\/><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-desktop\">Latest Videos From<\/span><span class=\"jwp-carousel-brand\">Cyclingnews<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;This is the most uncertain Vuelta of my career, I&#8217;ve had a bad year, I&#8217;m on the bounceback from a very difficult injury and I&#8217;m certainly not at 100%.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I&#8217;ll try and ride my way into form, but it&#8217;ll be hard.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">On the point of ending his time at Soudal-QuickStep, where he managed to finish fifth in the 2024 Tour de France and was viewed as a key mountain lieutenant for Remco Evenepoel, Landa&#8217;s bad crash in the Itzulia, breaking his pelvis, left him out of the count for the Tour this summer.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Instead, as he concludes the 16th season of his career at WorldTour level, Landa says he was determined to go to the Vuelta &#8211; &#8220;it would have been even worse if I hadn&#8217;t&#8221; &#8211; but he is painfully realistic about his options.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-MqV2h8f8gLMNNvhGe9BBCY\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-MqV2h8f8gLMNNvhGe9BBCY slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I&#8217;m just not in good shape, but there is no other option,&#8221; Landa, part of a lineup which also includes mountain climber Valentin Paret-Peintre, told reporters.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I&#8217;m racing without pressure, the team knows how I&#8217;m doing and so do I. I&#8217;ll give it my best, it&#8217;d be worse not to race the Vuelta. Hopefully I can enjoy at least one day.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I haven&#8217;t even enjoyed any training this year, it&#8217;s been that bad. But I have to be optimistic, above all coming as I do from such a bad situation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Landa has signed with his local Proteam, Euskaltel-Euskadi &#8211; the squad with which he began life as a pro back in 2012, albeit in a very different structure &#8211; for the next two years. The squad wasn&#8217;t chosen for the Vuelta or any Grand Tour this year, but he&#8217;s not ruling out racing a three-week race again in the future.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I hope that this won&#8217;t be the last,&#8221; Landa, twice third in the Giro d&#8217;Italia and twice fourth in the Tour de France, said. &#8220;I&#8217;d like to be back here again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-a99ce30e-9cd3-11f1-930e-0dff1245d58c\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"><strong>For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You&#8217;ll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! <\/strong><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=LV26\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=LV26\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=LV26\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><strong>Join today.<\/strong><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/teams-riders\/i-havent-even-enjoyed-any-training-this-year-its-been-that-bad-mikel-landa-in-survival-mode-at-the-vuelta-a-espana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>11 years ago, Mikel Landa rode what was defined at the time as the &#8216;hardest stage ever of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a&#8217; through Andorra over more than 5,000 vertical metres &#8211; and ended up winning. This time round, when the Vuelta reaches Andorra on stage 4 and once again tackles a non-stop series of climbs, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":258934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-258933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}