Mikel Landa spent the past four years being overshadowed by other Grand Tour leaders on his teams, first with Astana while working for Fabio Aru, and this year with Team Sky when he finished the Tour de France a single second off the podium while working for Chris Froome. Next season he heads to Movistar and has already been faced with comments from Nairo Quintana who earlier this week declared himself as sole leader of the team for the Tour de France.
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo, Landa explained that his 'free Landa' quip at the UCI gala was not a reaction to Quintana's comments, and said he expected Movistar's manager Eusebio Unzue to get the best out of both of them.
"I was there with all my teammates and it has been something that has always been taken in a good way, nobody took it badly," Landa explained of his exclamation to Mundo Deportivo.
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"They asked if I would dare to say it on the last day with them and we had a good laugh."
Quintana told El Pais on Tuesday, "I am the leader of the team and I am the leader for the Tour", but added "If Alejandro [Valverde] comes to support me, it would be a blessing, and if Landa comes, the same. That would be a great team to take on strong teams like Sky."
Landa said that he had not yet read Quintana's comments before the UCI gala, and that the joke was not a reaction to his new teammate's statement, but said, "Obviously, I would have liked to get a different welcome, but I'm going to his house, and from what I can see, it looks like he doesn't like it."
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