Mikel Landa to lead Team Sky at Giro d'Italia

Omnisports

May 3, 2016 9:20 AM

Team Sky's squad for the Giro d'Italia will be led by Mikel Landa, who finished third for Astana last year when supporting Fabio Aru.

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Mikel Landa has been confirmed as Team Sky's lead rider for the Giro d'Italia, which gets under way on Friday.

Landa joined Team Sky from Astana ahead of the 2016 season, having finished third for the Kazakh outfit at the 2015 Giro in a supporting role to Fabio Aru.

A highly-rated climber, the 26-year-old Spaniard will now lead a line-up that also includes sprint specialist Elia Viviani, Sebastian Henao, Ian Boswell, Nicolas Roche, Philip Deignan, Christian Knees, Mikel Nieve and David Lopez.

Davide Cassani, the manager of the Italian national team, talked up Landa's credentials in a recent interview with Omnisport.

Asked if Landa would be his choice as Team Sky's leader, Cassani replied: "Yes, no doubt about it.

"Last year he proved to be very strong. He managed to podium [in the Giro] despite helping Fabio Aru, who was his team-mate at the time.

"Thanks to his performances and results last season, Sky signed him to be the captain in this Giro."

Sky's team prinicipal, Dave Brailsford, said: "Mikel has fitted into the team brilliantly and is coming into top form just at the right time. He will be supported by a strong, experienced and fully committed group of riders around him."

Landa added: "The Giro d'Italia is my first big goal of the season and I'm proud to go there as leader of Team Sky. I feel like I'm coming into really good form and I'm confident I can perform well."

Omnisports

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