Mikel Landa makes no bones about his weakness against the clock, but is doing everything he can to make improvements ahead of his bid to win this year’s Giro d’Italia – a race that features no fewer than three individual time trials.
The Spaniard, who has moved from Astana to Team Sky for the 2016 season, lost four minutes to Alberto Contador in the 59-kilometre time trial at last year’s Giro, which proved crucial by the time he finished the race third overall and three minutes down on his compatriot.
Speaking to Cyclingnews and a group of journalists at Team Sky’s media day in Mallorca, Landa explained that a key factor behind his transfer to the British team was the scope to develop against the clock, and he described the efforts he has been putting in over the winter – with some results noticeable already.
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“Last year I wasn’t training at this moment in January, but this year yes, I’m training with the time trial bike,” said the 26-year-old. “I was working hard in December, finding a position on the track, [and] now we’re training once or twice a week, in order to lose as little [time] as possible.
“I’m feeling more comfortable already, I feel fast. I need to do a competition to see the results, but I feel more confortable, so I think at the moment it’s enough.”
Landa joked that he would need a route without time trials when asked whether he would consider targeting the Tour de France in the future. Either that or commit to putting in the graft in the hope of long-term improvement. That process is underway, and the Basque rider already seems to have bought into Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford’s famed concept of ‘marginal gains’.
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