Mikel Landa wins Vuelta a Burgos opener

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Mikel Landa (Sky) continued his startling run of recent form by winning the opening stage of the Vuelta a Burgos in Alto del Castillo. The Basque was part of a four-man break that stole off the front in the finale, and he had the strength to overcome Sergei Chernetski (Astana) on the uphill finish with the peloton bearing down upon them.

Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) won the sprint for third place, as his teammate Matteo Trentin and Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue Sport) were swept up by the bunch on the final kick to the line.

Landa’s victory marks the continuation of a remarkable run that began with stage victory and the king of the mountains title at the Giro d’Italia in May. He proceeded to finish fourth at the Tour de France last month while helping Chris Froome to overall victory, and he then teed up Michal Kwiatkowski’s win at the Clasica San Sebastian on Saturday.

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“I have a special affection for this race and I wanted to achieve something beautiful here,” said Landa, who carries the overall lead into Wednesday’s second stage. “Now I have a small lead ahead the two mountainous days later in the week.”

The opening leg of the Vuelta a Burgos was animated by an early break featuring Marc Soler (Movistar), David López, Tao Geoghegan Hart (Sky), Pieter Serry (Quick-Step), Ben King (Dimension Data), David Arroyo (Caja Rural-RGA Seguros), Jerome Cousin (Cofidis), Fernando Orjuela (Manzana-Postobon), Daniel Diaz (Delko-Marseille), Etienne van Empel (Roompot), Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue), Joan Bou (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Ibai Salas (Burgos-BH).

The move established a maximum lead of four minutes, but the presence of a dangerman like Soler meant that it was never going to be given too much leeway. Soler, Lopez, Bou and Salas sat up when the lead was pegged back to two minutes, but despite the best efforts of the aggressive King, the escape was definitively snuffed out with 22 kilometres to go.

Gatis Smukulis (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) launched a determined solo attack with 18 kilometres remaining and opened a 15-second lead, but with Quick-Step Floors winding up the pace in the peloton, the Latvian’s solo effort was doomed to failure.

With eight kilometres remaining, an uphill bunch finish seemed inevitable, only for Landa to slip off the front with Chernetski and Trentin for company. An already strong working alliance was reinforced by the arrival of Hansen, and with Quick-Step now content to play a waiting game in the peloton, the escapees realised they had a fighting chance of staying clear.

Landa et al carried a lead of 9 seconds in the final kilometre, and the Basque proved the strongest as the leading group fragmented on the climb to the finish. Landa was a comfortable winner, 2 seconds ahead of Chernetski.

Alaphilippe streaked clear of the bunch to take third place, 3 seconds down, while Enric Mas (Quick-Step) was the best of the rest, 5 seconds behind Landa. The Movistar duo of Dani Moreno and Carlos Barbero, both expected to shine on this finale, had to settle for 5th and 6th, respectively.

Landa, who is set to leave Team Sky at the end of the season, carries the race leader’s purple jersey into Wednesday’s second stage. On the evidence of his recent purple patch, he will be the favourite to carry it all the way to the finish at Lagunas de Neila on Saturday.

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