Mikel Landa celebrated finally landing a stage victory at the Giro d'Italia but refused to get caught up in a debate about what he could have achieved if he and teammate Geraint Thomas had not been involved in the crash with a police motorbike on the road to the Blockhaus climb on stage 9.
Landa lost over 26 minutes that day and fought to stay in the Giro d'Italia after hurting his leg. Thomas opted to quit and recover in time for the Tour de France, while Landa fought on as a stage hunter.
Vincenzo Nibali beat him Bormio after the Sicilian caught him at the bottom of the descent of the Stelvio and then Tejay van Garderen also got the better of him in the sprint to Ortisei after another long breakaway.
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Lands did not take any risks on the climb to Piancavallo on stage 19, dropping all his breakaway companions to win alone while wearing the climber's Azzurra jersey, which he is now certain to win in Milan on Sunday.
"Things can change so quickly in this Giro d'Italia, as we've seen. My last two days were tough but things changed today. I wanted to be strong in the final week and I've kept trying. I'm happy it's finally worked out," Landa said in the post-stage press conference.
"I don't honestly know where I'd be without the crash, who knows. Maybe I can show where I'd be next year…."
The least Team Sky-like rider on the Team Sky roster
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