Mikel Landa’s goals at the Vuelta a Espana are to achieve a high GC finish and to win a stage in the race, even though he knows he is not on the same level of the Astana hierarchy as Fabio Aru and Vincenzo Nibali.

"At the start there'll be three of us and we’ll see where we are day by day," Landa told Biciciclismo. "The team's goal is to win and hopefully that will happen with one of us. Last year, we won the Tour with Nibali and we want to repeat and win a Grand Tour this year."

Landa is a good bet for a strong GC result, after improving at the last three Vueltas he has ridden: 69th, 39th and 28th in 2012-2014. But he knows that with his coming departure for next season, he isn't the leader of the team. Nonetheless that hasnt stopped him from setting ambitious goals for himself.

"Every year, I've gained more experience," he said. "We'll see what happens on the road."

"I aiming for a stage win and to be up there in the general classification," he said.