Giro d'Italia 2025: Soudal Quick-Step rider Mikel Landa facing 'long recovery' after fracturing his T11 vertebra in crash on Stage 1 of Grand Tour
Updated 12/05/2025 at 20:45 GMT+1
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Mikel Landa is facing a lengthy spell out of the saddle, but has been discharged from hospital after he suffered a fractured vertebra in a crash on the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia. The 35-year-old Basque rider's Soudal Quick-Step team said Landa was in good spirits and optimistic for the future. Landa finished third in the 2022 edition of the Giro.
Highlights: Pedersen claims sprint win on Stage 3 to reclaim pink jersey
Video credit: TNT Sports
Mikel Landa has been released from hospital but the Soudal Quick-Step rider is facing a "long recovery" from the fractured vertebra he suffered during the first stage of the 2025 Giro d’Italia.
The Spanish rider was viewed as a general classification contender for the first Grand Tour of the year, but did not make it to the end of the opening stage after suffering a crash on the final descent of the day.
Landa was transferred by ambulance to a hospital in the Albanian capital of Tirana, where a CT scan confirmed a fracture to his T11 vertebra.
Soudal Quick-Step said Landa spent a night on an ICU (intensive care unit) ward, "but after suffering no further complications, he was moved to a normal hospital room".
The team provided an update on Monday, confirming Landa had been allowed to travel home to begin his recovery.
No time frame has been set for Landa’s return to the saddle, but the team said he was "in good spirits and optimistic for the future".
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Landa provided an update on his condition, which was passed on by his team.
"I would like to thank everybody for the messages of support and the love that I have received," Landa, whose best finishes at a Grand Tour were third places in the Giro in 2015 and 2022, said.
"I would also like to thank the medics both at the scene of the accident and at the hospital in Tirana, and to everybody at Soudal Quick-Step who has taken care of me and helped me to return to my home.
"It will be a long recovery but the support that has been shown to me will strengthen me on my journey."
The first three stages of the 2025 Giro took place in Albania, before the riders made the transfer to Italy for Stage 4 on Tuesday, which will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) holds the maglia rosa heading into the fourth stage, following his win on Stage 3 on Sunday. A flat run into Lecce hands the Dane a shot at a third win from four stages on Tuesday, although the peloton's pure sprinters will be in the mix.
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