'Optimistic' Landa gives update after night in intensive care, Lefevere calls him a 'special guy'

In the weekly Saturday column in Het Nieuwsblad, Patrick Lefevere, former team manager of Soudal-Quick, took the time to express his thoughts on Landa. "I'm not the most sensitive person on earth, but my heart bleeds when I see Mikel Landa hit the ground so hard. Our team's number one rider and leader is out of the race, but that's the least of our worries. When I see Mikel in the ambulance, I think of him, not the race."

The always-outspoken Belgian also described what kind of person and rider Landa has been since he joined The Wolfpack in 2024. "Mikel is a special guy who does things his own way. A good pro, but sometimes with a cigar or a whiskey. On the Lefevere scale, it adds points rather than subtracts them, as long as it's a glass and not a bottle. And with Landa, it's never a bottle," said PatLef.

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Several sports directors commented on the situation before starting the time trial in the Giro. “Landa had a difficult night in the hospital,” sports director Iljo Keisse told Sporza. "I think it's frustrating for him to leave the Giro this way, especially given his condition and motivation. It's a huge setback for him and the team. Landa will have to stay in bed for four weeks. So it's not just the Giro that's lost, but also the Tour."

Davide Bramati echoed this sentiment in the Spanish newspaper Marca. "Yesterday (Saturday, ed.) he was very down, but today (Sunday, ed.) he seems a little better. That's normal; he came here enthusiastically and was in top form. He was a real contender for the podium, and we had high expectations. He was the key element in our ambitions. The Giro waits for no one, but we do. We are devastated, but we have to keep going."

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With Mattia Cattaneo, Josef Cerny, Gianmarco Garofoli, Hayter, James Knox, Luke Lamperti, and Paul Magnier still on board, Soudal-Quick Step must regroup and attack. Hayter may have eased the pain a little by finishing ninth in the time trial—a good sign after the Brit was struggling on day 1. "I can be content with my effort. Top ten on the second stage of my second Grand Tour is a good result, and it gives me a lot of confidence for the next three weeks. We’ll see what we can do, but me and the boys are ready to give our best," he said.

The Belgian cycling team has to make new plans for the rest of the Giro d'Italia and the summer. Remco Evenepoel, the team's Tour leader, lost his most important domestique for the Tour de France. "I'm not a doctor, of course. But after those four weeks of complete rest, Landa will have lost all his form and will have to start again," said Keisse. "So it would be a miracle if he made it to the start of the Tour."

He concluded: "The people in our team working on the Tour will have to look at the possible alternatives. But there aren't that many. It's going to be a challenging task."

While the Giro peloton made the journey from Albania to Italy, Soudal Quick-Step issued a press release regarding the situation of their team leader. "After the accident, Mikel was transferred to a hospital in Tirana, where he underwent a CT scan that revealed a stable fracture to the Th 11 vertebra. Mikel spent the night in an ICU ward, but after suffering no further complications, he was moved to a normal hospital room and arrangements were made of his trip home, where he can begin his recuperation. He is said to be in good spirits and optimistic for the future."

After his return, Mikel said: "I would like to thank everybody for the messages of support and the love that I have received . I would also like to thank the medics both at the scene of the accident and at the hospital in Tirana, and to everybody at Soudal Quick-Step who has taken care of me and helped me to return to my home. It will be a long recovery but the support that has been shown to me will strengthen me on my journey."