Landa more depressed than injured after Tour de France crash

Cahuzac-sur-V?re (France), July 16 (IANS) Movistar's Spanish rider Mikel Landa said on Tuesday that he was in emotional pain after his recent crash during the 10th stage of the 2019 Tour de France.

Landa's accident took place before the end of the 10th stage of the race on Monday, leaving him with no serious injuries but with a broken spirit, reports Efe news.

"I felt in a little bit more pain when I woke up today, but fortunately it is nothing serious: a blow to my arm, another one to my face, and nothing else," Landa said as cited by the team's website.

"I am a bit more down when it comes to morale," he added.

Destined to repeated falls, Landa wondered "Why me? Why was it me crashing? I was feeling so strong, the stage had gone so well for us up until that moment, it would actually have been a good chance to close in on our goal in the Tour de France - and you crash once again."

Landa stressed that he needed to be left alone for some time to process what has happened to him and be able to get back on track.

"I need some more time to get back into the mood. I have not found how to get myself into the race again," the 29-year-old cyclist said.

"I need to go through these two 'bad' days, have others let me alone, and we will turn things around and change our luck for the better," he explained.

Meanwhile, Landa said that "There are still many contenders left in the race. Those currently trailing, such as Fuglsang and Pinot, who are strong attackers, will surely try to go from afar and will play a significant role in the upcoming mountain stages."

However, Landa seemed to be optimistic.

"Hopefully, with this time lost I will have a chance to attack and be let go further than others. However, the tour is always hard in that respect: the teams defend basically any position, and as soon as you approach 10th place, you get teams interested in retaining such a position, so it is hard to bounce back." the Movistar cyclist concluded.