Mikel Landa, the Astana Pro Team rider, won already two stages in the 2015 Giro d’Italia and now lies in second place behind strong Alberto Contador. We can say that this rider leads Spain’s next generation. Indeed, Landa is only 25 years old.

At the start of this Giro d’Italia, he says: "I’m hungry like a wolf, ready to race."

"In Spain, the newspapers wrote ‘impresionante’ when he won his mountain stage in País Vasco stage race. That’s what this is here, impressive", Fernando Llamas, a journalist for Spanish sports newspaper Marca explained.

Giuseppe Martinelli, the Astana Pro Team manager, told about his Basque rider. "I saw him race when he was still racing as a beginner. He rode with Orbea and turned professional, like all the Basque riders, with Euskaltel-Euskadi, but I kept an eye on him. As soon as the team folded, I signed him for 2014."

"He was always seen as a talent. He was a good rider, but this year… He surpassed everyone, even us. This year, he had mononucleosis, he was sick, he began the season slowly, and then caught us all off-guard. I thought he was a good rider, but not one to do what he’s doing now. Now it’s all possible."

According to Dave Brailsford, Lande will be one of the best stage race riders, but the only hitch could be his time trial ability. "He can climb with the best in the world, but all Grand Tour leaders need a time trial. In most Grand Tours, you need to be able to time trial, even if it’s a 14km prologue and a team time trial like in this year’s Tour."

"The time trial he did the País Vasco last year was perhaps the first one he did in his life when he was really pushing it. Hai capitio?” Martinelli added. “Before, he was always going like it was a rest day."