Bahrain Victorious Team Shines on Stage 17, Landa Climbs into Top 5 on Angliru

The Bahrain Victorious cycling team displayed exceptional teamwork on Stage 17 of La Vuelta, resulting in impressive finishes by Mikel Landa, Wout Poels, and Santiago Buitrago. With this collective effort, Landa has now moved into the top 5 in the overall standings, while Buitrago has entered the top 10.

Team leader Mikel Landa expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance, stating, “We had this stage marked from the beginning. Everyone was super motivated and focused on the plan. We did a great job, and everyone has been super.”

The team’s strategy was evident as Antonio Tiberi led the team up the start of the final climb. Describing their approach, Tiberi said, “Today was a really fast stage, like almost every day. We did a really nice job from the next to the last climb. I did 3-4km of pulling, and after the downhill, I did another 6-7km of the last climb. After my effort, Damiano started the job.”

Team Bahrain Victorious sports director Neil Stephens praised the exceptional teamwork, stating, “Today was a fantastic day for the team. Today at the team meeting, we said we’d try two things. One was that we’d try as hard as we could to win the stage; if we couldn’t do that, the other was to improve on General Classification…We used all of our strength, and we had some fantastic firepower in our workers. We used all of them to the best of our ability, and the result was there.”

Looking ahead, Stephens expressed pride in the team’s performance and their determination to continue fighting. He said, “Fantastic day today, I’m really proud of the boys, and we are ready to fight again tomorrow, to try to defend the General Classification, and most importantly, to try to get a stage win that has been avoiding us up till now.”

With only four stages remaining, the Bahrain Victorious team’s strong showing on Stage 17 has positioned them well for further success in La Vuelta.