Mikel Landa's motto, "Never give up," could not have been more appropriate than during stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia. Despite two crashes, Bahrain Victorious leader Mikel Landa regained his momentum and battled with two of the strongest climbers on this stage, Richard Calapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Romain Bardet (Team DSM). However, it could have ended quite differently. At the finish of stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia, about 50 km from the base of Passo Lanciano, the race radio reported that Landa was off the tail of the peloton for unknown reasons. However, according to television reports, despite the crash, Landa was able to move up to the front of the pack with only a quick change of one shoe. Fortunately, neither crash was major, and the 2015 Giro podium finisher was always in the top five of the pack, even when Ineos Grenadiers cut off the field at the blockhouse.

And when Calapaz popped up with less than 5km to go, Landa was able to keep up with the Ecuadorian with relative ease, and a long, rapid acceleration allowed counter attacker Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and final stage winner Jai Hindley ( Bora-Hansgrohe) temporarily separated them.

Landa eventually finished fourth, 29 seconds behind Spanish overall leader Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) in seventh place overall. This result is a far cry from both the blockhouse climb of the 2017 Giro, where a parked bike caused a massive traffic jam in the peloton and finished nearly 30 minutes behind, and the horrific crash in the first week of last year that took him out of the Giro entirely.

"Today we saw who is the strongest in this year's Giro. 'I crashed on Lanciano and then crashed again on the descent. So overall I'm very happy. I didn't lose any time and I was able to stay at the top."

Landa explained that the first crash was caused by inattention, with the front wheel caught between a road drainage ditch and freshly laid pavement, and the second crash was caused by the front wheel skidding on a downhill hairpin. However, these two crashes brought back unfavorable memories of the past.

"For a moment I thought bad luck had struck again," Landa admitted.

Despite his impressive run, Landa insisted that his main goal at the Giro d'Italia was a podium finish, but warned that he still had a long way to go.

"But now the GC is starting to sort itself out. So I can be satisfied."