{"id":722907,"date":"2026-08-01T14:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722907\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T14:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:41:13","slug":"coming-full-circle-mikel-landa-leaves-soudal-quickstep-and-returns-home-to-euskaltel-euskadi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722907\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Coming full circle\u2019 – Mikel Landa leaves Soudal-QuickStep and returns home to Euskaltel-Euskadi"},"content":{"rendered":"

After beginning his professional career in the famous orange kit in 2011, veteran Basque climber Mikel Landa<\/a> will re-join ProTeam Euskaltel-Euskadi next season.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old has agreed a two-year contract to race with the team until at least the end of 2028. Landa originally raced with the team between 2011 and 2013 before stints with Astana, Team Sky, Movistar, Bahrain Victorious and finally Soudal-QuickStep<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The original Basque team folded at the end of 2013, being reborn as a professional outfit in 2020<\/a> under its original sponsors.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor me, rejoining Euskaltel-Euskadi, pulling on the orange jersey again, and reconnecting with [Fundaci\u00f3n Euskadi] means coming full circle,\u201d Landa said in a press release<\/a> announcing his transfer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI turned professional thanks to this organisation, and returning here at this stage of my career is deeply meaningful to me personally. I arrive with great enthusiasm and a strong desire to contribute to the team\u2019s sporting project. I feel I still have the strength and experience needed to achieve great results and give the fans something to cheer about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the coming years, I will give my absolute best to repay the team as it deserves.”<\/p>\n

Landa\u2019s career achievements include two top-fives in the overall classification at the Tour de France, two podium placings at the Giro d’Italia, alongside three stage wins, and a stage win at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a in 2015.<\/p>\n

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Throughout his career, Landa has been hailed as a fan favourite for his attacking riding style and often underestimated abilities, giving rise to the \u2018Free Landa\u2019 saying as he has often appeared capable of usurping his more favoured team leaders.<\/p>\n

Euskaltel-Euskadi has also signed cyclocross star Felipe Orts for the 2027 campaign as well as riders from its development system, but Landa\u2019s signature is a landmark move for the second-tier squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn sporting terms, having Mikel Landa on the team takes us to a new level,\u201d said Jorge Azana, Sport Director at Euskaltel-Euskadi.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a team leader with his experience and ability to compete against the world’s best allows us to pursue top-tier goals with genuine ambition. Furthermore, his presence will serve as a guide for the young talents rising through our development ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After beginning his professional career in the famous orange kit in 2011, veteran Basque climber Mikel Landa will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-722907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}