Mikel Landa takes over Astana leadership as Aru fades at the Giro d'Italia

As Astana team leader Fabio Aru has struggled in the Giro d'Italia's mountains, the squad's Mikel Landa has flourished, taking two stage wins

Mikel Landa leads Aru and Contador on stage sixteen of the 2015 Tour of Italy

(Image credit: Watson)

Astana has not made it clear, but the Kazakh team in turquoise essentially handed the Giro d'Italia leadership from a fading Fabio Aru to Mikel Landa 10 kilometres from the finish in Aprica.

Team manager Giuseppe Martinelli drove up alongside the Basque and shouted. Its unclear, but it the famed Italian manager might have said: "Go Mikel, this team's yours!"

Landa explained he got the OK only on Aprica, but Martinelli might have been considering it for days. Aru appeared to be suffering, which his facial expressions made clear at the finish in Vicenza under pouring rain on Thursday.

>>> Five talking points from stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia

Landa's smooth-as-silk pedalling style up the famed Mortirolo with its 18 per cent gradients today cemented the decision. Aru could no longer hold on. Once race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) attacked the Astana duo, Landa had no choice but to chase to defend the team's position.

He not only chased, but he helped bury Aru, won the stage and jumped from fourth to second overall. Behind Contador, the Basque is the best cyclist both on paper and on the climbs 16 days into the Giro d'Italia.

Landa wins his second stage at the 2015 Giro d'Italia. Photo: Yuzuru Sunada

Landa wins his second stage at the 2015 Giro d'Italia. Photo: Yuzuru Sunada

"We'll have to look at the overall tonight, I still don't know the time gaps," Landa said.

"Will Fabio now help me? I don't know, it's possible, but it's going to take both of us if we have a chance to take out Alberto."

Contador has a 4-02-minute gap to Landa and a 4-52 gap to Aru. Costa Rican Andrey Amador (Movistar) sits in fourth place overall at 5-48.

Aru's suffering only made Landa's ride appear more impressive. Aru, in the white young rider's jersey, struggled to hold on as the leaders made their way up the Mortirolo. Once cracked, Landa rode away into the 2015 Giro's storybooks and Aru sunk to 2-51 minutes by the stage finish.

The former Euskaltel-Euskadi rider rode side-by-side with Contador and Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) over the top of the Mortirolo and through the valley below. Contador whispered to Landa, "Let's let Kruijswijk win, he deserves it." Landa thought otherwise.

>>> Alberto Contador shows why he's leading the Giro d'Italia

"I was given my free hand," Landa added. "I wanted the stage win."

Landa won his second stage of the Giro after Madonna di Campiglio and moved to second overall. What more could he want?

"If I had came here leader, maybe [I could be leading the race], but you never know," he added. "This situation now, and that's how it is. We'll see what I can do in the remaining days."

Landa's day saved Astana, which employed odd tactics. It attacked Contador after he punctured on the descent of the Aprica and its pace was so hard that it blew up its own leader on the Mortirolo. Had it not been for Landa, Astana would have had a disastrous 2015 Giro.

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Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.