First flap, then shake, slap, then flap again: for two long minutes at the finish of stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya, Mikel Landa had only one priority – getting his hands warm again.
When ploughing through the ice-cold rain and near-freezing temperature en route to a fine second place at Vallter 2000 summit behind Tadej Pogačar, Landa could be seen shaking and all but slapping his bare hands as he pedalled in an attempt to regain their normal temperature and at the finish team helpers plied him with jackets, drinks, some race gloves, a scarf and hat as well.
However, warm gloves were somehow missing from the mix, and it was only when a journalist, waiting for quotes, honourably took off his own thermal pair and gave them to the Basque that Landa finally stopped the hand-flapping.
“It’s been a long time since my hands have been that cold,” Landa told the journalists afterwards. But if Pogačar’s performance was in accordance with his pre-race favourite status, the veteran Basque’s ride to second at 1:24 behind the Slovenian, Landa said, was something he had not expected at all, even if last year he had taken fourth last year in Catalunya on the same summit finish.
“I’m happy; I came here with no expectations at all because I haven’t raced for a while,” Landa, whose previous race had been the Volta ao Algarve, told reporters. “This definitely went better than I could have hoped.”
He could now begin to dream of a top result, particularly after finishing fifth overall last year. “It’s a race I like; I’m keen to do well here,” he commented.
“Tomorrow’s a stage with a lot more climbing” – nearly 4,000 metres en route to Port Ainé, compared to ‘just 3,400’ for stage 2 – “and I like that.”
Landa looked pleased to hear that the next day’s stage would, in any case, feature much warmer weather than on stage 2. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been so cold, particularly in my hands,” he said.
As for whether Pogačar was still possible to defeat after such a strong mountain performance or if he was now fighting for a top-three finish in Barcelona next Sunday, Landa said a key priority was “a stage win.”
“If I can get on the podium, then so much the better, but for now, I’m going to take it on the day.”
“Won it already?” he repeated when asked again if Pogačar was unassailable, “I don’t know about that. He’s the big favourite, though, and he’s gained some time, so the wind is blowing in his favour.”
For Landa, in any case, his strong performance despite the weather and opposition must be deeply encouraging after his switch from Bahrain Victorious to Soudal-QuickStep, where his main mission is to work for Remco Evenepoel.
But if Landa was already looking good on the climbs in the Volta ao Algarve – which Evenepoel won, of course – particularly stage 2’s longer ascent to the Alto de Foia, the Pyrenees are another league of climbing altogether. And once again, Landa has stepped up to the plate in style.
