San Sebastian and Vuelta a Burgos next on the calendar
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Mikel Landa in the peloton at the Tour de France(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mikel Landa steps onto the podium as Sky collect the team classification prize in Paris(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mikel Landa (Team Sky) inside the final kilometre of the Col d'Izoard on stage 18(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mikel Landa racing stage 20 of the Tour de France(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mikel Landa (Team Sky)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The transfer window is fast approaching, but Mikel Landa has not yet decided where he will go for the 2018 season. In an interview with Spanish publication AS, Landa said that he was still in discussions with Team Sky but that a well-reported switch to Movistar could also be on the cards.
Landa has been heavily linked with the Spanish outfit since before the Tour de France and in a recent interview with El Pais, there were heavy hints that he would be leaving Team Sky at the end of the season. However, Landa says that he is talking with Sky and has had conversations with team leader Chris Froome, but the latter is currently focused on his bid for the Vuelta a Espana. Cyclingnews reported last week that Team Sky's Dave Brailsford is already resigned to letting Landa leave.
"We are talking with Sky, we gave two days' margin to get back to normality," Landa told AS. "I have also spoken to Froome, and now he is concentrating on the Vuelta. I conveyed that I was happy to continue with the team and he thanked me for the work that I did. I don't know if next year my objective will be the Tour or the Giro, but it is difficult to find a place in the team for the Tour."
He added: "Movistar is a possibility. It is a serious team, and I like how it works and, if it isn't Sky, then it is possible that it could be Movistar. It would be an option that Nairo is the leader in the Tour and I in the Giro."
In his El Pais interview after missing out on the Tour de France podium by a single second, Landa vented his frustrations at not being given the opportunity to fight for that place. His particular gripe was with the way the team rode on the Izoard, where he was asked to attack to put Froome's rivals under pressure. In the end, Froome was only able to gain a couple of seconds on Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), while Landa lost 12 seconds to his leader and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale). He called it a frustrating situation and said that he didn't want to find himself in that situation again. He reiterated that stance.
"I always want to be the leader, of that there will be no question," he said. "I have demonstrated that I can contest the general classification and I have had a year at a very good sporting level, and it is the moment to take advantage of it."
After a busy season with 67 days of racing and two Grand Tours under his belt, Landa is beginning his wind down towards the off-season. He will hope to capitalise on his Tour de France form at this weekend's Clasica San Sebastian before the five-day Vuelta a Burgos next week. A ride at Il Lombardia on October 7 is also a possibility, although not yet set in stone. There will be no third Grand Tour for the Spaniard, although he had wanted to ride the Vuelta a Espana before he was pulled into the Tour squad, and the Worlds also looks to be off the cards.
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"The Vuelta this year would have been too much. The best thing I can do after la Clasica San Sebastian and the Vuelta a Burgos is to rest and think about next year," he said. "I have not spoken with Javier Minguez about the Worlds in Bergen."
Team Sky announced their Clasica San Sebastian with Phil Deignan, Sergio Henao, Michal Kwiatkowski, David Lopez, Gianni Moscon and Mikel Nieve joining Landa.
