Mikel Landa will compete in two more races for Bahrain Victorious. The experienced 33-year-old Spanish cyclist, who recently signed a two-year contract with Soudal Quick-Step, is scheduled to participate in the Gran Piemonte on Thursday and conclude his journey with the Middle East team on Saturday at Il Lombardia.
“I want to finish my year in the best possible way. We want to be competitive and achieve a good result. Anyway, I am still very motivated,” says the 24-year-old climber.
Drama in the new team
Landa signed a contract for the next two seasons with Soudal Quick-Step in August. He expected to play a significant role in the Belgian team as the main helper for Remco Evenepoel. However, the question now is where exactly his future lies, given the news of Soudal Quick-Step merging with Jumbo-Visma.
It now seems that six riders will move from Soudal Quick-Step to Richard Plugge’s new ‘fusion team.’ The Dutch team is also hoping for Remco Evenepoel to make the move, along with several riders around him. However, after the news that Remco Evenepoel would never work with Jumbo-Visma’s CEO, Richard Plugge, things get even murkier for Mikel Landa.
Resolution coming soon
The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) has indicated that the merger should take place in early October, along with the solutions that team leaders will provide for these issues. Landa has to wait and see.