Mikel Landa is going into the Giro del Trentino with his head held high after impressing at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, and believes his Giro d'Italia preparations are now firmly back on track.  

Landa was forced to delay the start to his season after picking up a viral infection over the winter, but after making his Team Sky debut at the Settimana Coppi e Bartali, he produced a hugely-encouraging performance in the Basque Country, winning a mountainous stage into Baranbio and holding the leader's jersey for two days in the process.

The 26 year old finished his home race in 12th position, and is now looking forward to stepping things up again in Trentino.

Landa holds the race in high regard having won a stage there in 2014, and he also finished second last season with Team Sky duo Richie Porte and Leopold Konig standing either side of him on the podium.     

TeamSky.com chatted to Landa on the eve of the 2016 edition to see how his progress is going, and to gauge his feelings as he counts down the days until the start of the Giro d'Italia.

"I used that race [Vuelta al Pais Vasco] to build my condition for the Giro, and the support I received from the fans there was unbelievable. The Basque fans have always got behind me and that's really helped my cycling," he said.

To take a stage win and the leader's jersey on his home roads must was very special for the Basque.

"Doing so in a place I know so well was extra special. I'd prepared for that stage a lot in the weeks leading up to it and it was a big goal of mine. I was happy with the way I rode that day and am pleased to have achieved one of my early-season goals," he said.

"Getting into the leader's jersey was a nice bonus as well. I always knew it was going to be difficult to hold onto it until the end of the race, so I savoured the time I had in it.

"Overall I was happy. The GC at Pais Vasco was never a big ambition of mine - my objective was to win a stage and help Sergio [Henao] try and win the race. I got my victory and Sergio finished second after leading the race until the last stage, so on the whole it was a good week.

The performance at Pais Vasco was a boost to the morale.

"That was another important thing that I wanted to get out of it. I finished with a lot of confidence, not just because of my own performance, but because of the whole team's," he said

"It's vital that I get to know my team-mates as well as I can before the Giro d'Italia, and these spring races are great for that. We're almost a team within a team if you like and we're working really well together. We're all building our condition at the same time before for our main goal in May."

Landa is now ready for the Giro del Trentino.

"I had a few easy days straight after the race to recover and then did some work on my time trial bike. Once I'd done that I ramped up my road training again to ensure I was ready to go for Trentino," he said. "I'm feeling really good right now and riding well.

"Trentino has been a special race for me over the last few years. I'm still not in my very peak condition, but I'm close to that, so I'll try and finish as high on the standings as I can and keep building my relations with my team-mates."

Team Sky's line up for the Giro del Trentino, which runs from 19-22 April, is: Ian Boswell, Philip Deignan, Christian Knees, Mikel Landa, David Lopez, Gianni Moscon, Alex Peters and Xabier Zandio