Landa Left Out of Soudal Quick-Step's Tour de France Squad as Rodríguez Also Misses the Cut
Soudal Quick-Step will line up at the 2026 Tour de France without Mikel Landa. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the veteran Basque climber — for years a fixture among the general classification contenders at the Grand Tours — has been passed over by the Belgian team for the Barcelona Grand Départ, drawing a difficult season closer to a quiet end.
The 36-year-old had built his 2026 around the Giro d'Italia, only for a crash at the Tour of the Basque Country to force the race off his calendar. The Tour de France became the next target, but a tentative return at the Tour de Suisse in June — from which he withdrew early, visibly short of his best — confirmed that the form simply was not there in time.
It is a deflating outcome for a rider who, as recently as the 2024 Tour, finished fifth overall and remained one of the most respected climbers in the bunch. His absence subtracts a genuine third-week presence from the race, and leaves Soudal Quick-Step recalibrating their ambitions just days before the start.
With Landa sidelined, leadership is expected to fall to Valentin Paret-Peintre. The Frenchman had spoken of arriving at the Tour with the freedom to hunt stage wins, particularly after Remco Evenepoel's own complications over a possible start; a formal GC role would reshape those plans and tie him more tightly to the demands of the overall standings.
Landa's next objective is unconfirmed, but the Vuelta a España in August looms as the most logical destination — a home Grand Tour offering the chance to salvage something from a campaign that has refused to flow.
He is not the only Spaniard left disappointed. Cristián Rodríguez has been omitted from XDS Astana's Tour roster, a decision Marca links to his move away from the team at the end of the season. The 31-year-old has impressed in 2026 — second behind teammate Christian Scaroni at the Tour of Oman and eighth at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes — but will instead point his form toward the Vuelta before beginning a new chapter elsewhere.