A large part of Mikel Landa's appeal lies in his habitual Houdini-like behavior in the Grand Tours. Usually some misfortune early in the race chains this Basque's chances, and he struggles mightily to get out of it. Randa has never been able to unlock the door, although he has once located the key.

While these attempted remontada are memorable, Landa's trail of honor is faint. Before this Giro d'Italia began, he had only one podium finish in 16 Grand Tour appearances.

But now, as this Giro enters its third week, Landa is in an unfamiliar place, less than a minute away from the maglia rosa. Barlain Victorious has had a few mishaps, including crashing on the road to the blockhouse on stage 9, but he doesn't need an over-the-top escape to win this race in Verona. So far, Landa has had perhaps the clearest run of his career.

"We're in the third week and one minute away from the pink jersey.

Landa's biggest setback so far in the Giro came on the tumultuous stage 14 around Turin, when he conceded 36 seconds to Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), Richard Karapas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Kazakstan) It was to be. Although he finished fourth overall, 59 seconds behind Carapaz's Maria Rosa, a complicated afternoon could easily have turned into a disaster.

Landa's teammate Pero Bilbao (6th in 1h52) summed up the situation beautifully after helping to limit the leader's losses along the Po River. When Carapaz attacked, my only thought was not to lose the Giro today. We still have three weeks left to fight," Bilbao said.

"Saturday was a very hard stage, but the course was not for me. Landa, who was part of a 12-man selection forced by Hindley's Bora-Hansgrohe team with 80km to go, was then tormented by Carapaz's ferocious acceleration on the final climb up the Spelga.

"The stage in Turin was very hard. I don't think anyone expected Bora's pace and they rode super strong.

The Giro finally entered the Alps on Sunday's Cogne stage, but Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) was frustrated by Ineos' sprinting game as they raced through Valle d'Aosta.

"It wasn't the hardest race for the pure climbers. The climb to the finish wasn't the hardest, and I had teammates in the lead group chasing attacks," Landa said.

"It would have been better for a rider like me to ride long climbs at high elevation and to do a series of very hard stages." [The race begins with stage 16, which takes riders through Goletto di Cadino, Passo del Mortoriolo, and Valrico di Santa Cristina before arriving in Aprica. Landa won the stage up Mortiolo in 2015, when Giro last visited Aprica. Meanwhile, three years ago, Landa played an important support role on Mortirolo for his then-teammate Carapaz.

"The Apprica stage will be super hard," Landa said. Santa Cristina is a very steep climb, and after 5,000 meters it gets even harder. The Mortirolo experience was always a good one. I have good memories of Aprica and Mortirolo, so that gives me extra motivation."

Landa singled out Tuesday's Mortirolo crossing and Saturday's Tappone to Marmolada as the two toughest stages of the Giro, but warned that the entire third week would be full of challenges. On Wednesday, they will tackle the Passo del Vetriolo and Monterovere, and a very tough Colovrato awaits them on their outing to Slovenia on stage 19.

"I think there will be a lot of surprises this week," Landa Landa said. "It could be a series of hard stages that make a difference, and one day one of the riders could put in a great performance. It will be an interesting week."

Landa will start the third week of the Giro with three young riders, Calapaz, Hindley, and Almeida. I've done more Giro's than they have," he said, "and the good and the bad experiences are probably the difference between us.

For better or worse, Landa will have a growing treasure trove of experience ahead of him. For once, he enters the final act of the Grand Tour with a manageable deficit and the terrain to make up for it. With Landa, anything is possible. As he has in the past.

"I want to be on the podium. As high as possible."

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