Mikel Landa will return to Euskaltel-Euskadi from the start of the 2027 season after agreeing a two-year contract with the Basque ProTeam.
The 36-year-old will leave Soudal Quick-Step when his current deal expires at the end of 2026 and race in Euskaltel’s orange jersey through the 2028 season. The team announced the move with the message: “He didn’t leave completely. Now he’s coming back home.”
It is an emotional return for a rider whose professional career began within the same Basque structure. Landa stepped up from the Fundación Euskadi pathway and raced for the original Euskaltel-Euskadi WorldTour team between 2011 and 2013 before its closure forced him to continue his career elsewhere.
Since then, he has represented Astana, Team Sky, Movistar, Bahrain Victorious and Soudal Quick-Step while establishing himself as one of the leading Grand Tour climbers of his generation.
Landa returns to the project he helped preserve
Landa’s connection with Euskaltel-Euskadi continued long after he stopped wearing the orange jersey.
He became president of the Fundación Euskadi project in 2017 and helped preserve the development structure from which the modern professional team was rebuilt. Landa later stepped away from the formal role because of the conflict created by continuing to race professionally for another squad, but his importance to the revival remained.
That history gives the transfer much more significance than a conventional late-career move. The current team is not a direct continuation of the original WorldTour squad, but it carries the same Basque development identity and orange colours.
Our history of Euskaltel-Euskadi covers the original team’s rise, its closure in 2013 and the revival through Fundación Euskadi.
Euskaltel make a major sporting statement
Signing Landa represents one of the most significant moves made by the modern Euskaltel-Euskadi project.
The team have spent recent seasons strengthening their sporting structure and attempting to improve their prospects of receiving invitations to major WorldTour races. Adding a rider with Landa’s profile should increase their visibility while giving the younger riders within the squad an experienced Grand Tour reference point.
His arrival should also strengthen Euskaltel’s case for invitations to the Vuelta a España and other major Spanish races, although wildcard places remain at the discretion of organisers.
Landa will naturally become the team’s headline rider, but his value should extend beyond his own results. He brings experience of leading and supporting across all three Grand Tours, as well as an understanding of the pressure attached to racing for a Basque team on home roads.
Photo Credit: GettyA move that completes the circle
Landa became a professional with Orbea in 2010 before joining Euskaltel-Euskadi at WorldTour level in 2011. He remained with the team until its closure at the end of 2013, then moved to Astana and developed into a Giro d’Italia podium contender.
His career since has included two Giro podiums, fourth place at the Tour de France and stage victories at both the Giro and Vuelta. He has also remained one of the riders most closely associated with Basque cycling, particularly at Itzulia Basque Country, where local expectations have followed him regardless of the team jersey he was wearing.
That connection was central to ProCyclingUK’s 2026 Itzulia Basque Country contenders preview, which looked at why the race and terrain have always carried particular importance for Landa.
Two final seasons in orange
Landa’s 2026 campaign has been disrupted by injury, including the pelvis fracture that ruled him out of the Giro d’Italia. His recovery and form will therefore remain important questions before he begins the next phase of his career.
The two-year Euskaltel contract now gives Landa a clear path through the end of 2028 rather than treating the return as a one-season farewell. How much leadership responsibility he can carry will depend on his condition, but the sporting and symbolic value of the move is already clear.
After more than a decade racing for some of the biggest teams in the peloton, Landa will return to the organisation that first placed him on the WorldTour.
He will wear Euskaltel orange again in 2027.
