Landa Crashes Heavily at Itzulia Basque Country Stage 2 — Giro d'Italia Preparations in Doubt
Mikel Landa suffered a heavy crash on the descent of San Miguel de Aralar during stage 2 of the Itzulia Basque Country, raising serious questions over the Basque climber's fitness ahead of the Giro d'Italia in just one month's time. The Soudal-QuickStep leader went down hard with approximately 9.5 kilometres remaining, losing significant time on the stage before bravely picking himself up to cross the finish line more than 13 minutes behind stage winner Paul Seixas.
Television footage from the finish area showed Landa walking gingerly towards the team bus, clearly in pain but without obvious signs of the most catastrophic injuries. The 36-year-old was immediately sent for medical examinations at doctor Mikel Sánchez's clinic in Vitoria, where scans were conducted to assess the full extent of the damage. At the time of writing, Soudal-QuickStep had not issued a definitive medical bulletin, though the team confirmed Landa was undergoing precautionary checks to determine whether he could continue in the race.
The crash comes at the worst possible moment in Landa's season. The Basque rider had targeted the Itzulia as a key preparatory race ahead of the Giro d'Italia, which begins in Bulgaria on May 8 with a Grande Partenza in Sofia. Landa has been one of the most consistent Grand Tour performers of his generation — podium finishes at the Giro in 2015 and 2023 underline his enduring quality on the sport's biggest stages — and any significant injury sustained here could derail months of meticulous preparation.
The Itzulia has an unhappy recent history with crashes involving its biggest names. In 2024, both Remco Evenepoel and Landa himself were forced to abandon with broken collarbones in separate incidents during the same edition, costing both riders weeks of training and racing. The Basque Country's narrow, technical descents — often slick with moisture from the Cantabrian climate — are among the most treacherous on the WorldTour calendar, and the descent off San Miguel de Aralar is no exception: tight hairpin bends, unforgiving road surfaces, and speeds that punish even the smallest misjudgement.
For Soudal-QuickStep, the stakes are immense. Landa was set to co-lead their Giro d'Italia campaign alongside Ethan Hayter, who has shown improving stage race form this season. Without their most experienced Grand Tour contender, the Belgian squad would enter the Giro with a dramatically weakened GC hand in a race that already features formidable opposition from Jonas Vingegaard, João Almeida, Richard Carapaz, and the exciting Giulio Pellizzari.
The cycling world will be watching Soudal-QuickStep's medical updates closely over the coming hours. If Landa is cleared to continue at the Itzulia, it would suggest the injuries are superficial — road rash, bruising, perhaps a minor knock that time and treatment can manage. If he is forced to withdraw, the conversation shifts immediately to recovery timelines and whether a month is enough to rebuild the fitness and confidence required to compete at the highest level of a three-week Grand Tour. Given that the Giro's opening stages in Bulgaria include a challenging mountain profile from the very first week, there is precious little margin for a rider arriving anything less than fully prepared.
Landa's misfortune adds another chapter to what has been a bruising 2026 Spring Classics period for injuries across the peloton. Tom Pidcock is still recovering from knee ligament damage sustained at the Volta a Catalunya, while Marlen Reusser fractured a vertebra in the Tour of Flanders crash that also hospitalised Elisa Longo Borghini. The physical toll of modern professional cycling — faster speeds, tighter racing, and increasingly punishing calendars — continues to raise difficult questions about rider safety and the fine margins that separate a season-defining result from a season-ending injury.