Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), who finally returned to the Grand Tour podium in the 2022 Giro d'Italia, has admitted that he will head back to the Tour de France in 2023.

The 32-year-old Landa told reporters on Friday that he would have missed the opportunity to participate in the Tour de France, which begins in his hometown of Bilbao.

Seven years after finishing third in the Giro d'Italia last May and in the same position in 2015, the 32-year-old Landa last competed in the Tour in 2020, finishing fourth overall.

His Basque teammate Pero Bilbao has been riding the Giro regularly in recent years, finishing fifth last May, and will head to the Tour's Grande Pearl in Bilbao on July 1. Bilbao will also not be competing in next April's Tour de l'Alps, where he has consistently placed high over the years, as he aims to return to the Ardennes Classics.

"To participate in the Tour in the Basque Country is a great motivation for me," Bilbao said. It's a historic opportunity and I want to enjoy it. It's a historic opportunity and I'm going to enjoy it."

"Besides, the 2023 race route is ideal for me because there are very few time trials and it's very mountainous."

Landa, who has twice finished fourth in the Tour de France and was only a few seconds off the podium in 2017, said his overall goals for 2023 are "to be near the podium at the Tour, to fight in week-long stage races like Ituria and Volta a Catalunya, and to win a stage somewhere. I want to win a stage somewhere. Too much time has passed since I last won."

Unfortunately for Landa, his career has been riddled with bad luck, with injuries and crashes ruining his chances. However, he says that reaching the podium in a Grand Tour at the age of 32, as he did in the Giro this past May, has given him a great boost of confidence.

"I've been aiming for it since 2015," he said.

"In 2021 I had to crash and go home. So it was a really good moment and it gave me confidence that it's possible again."

Third place at Il Lombardia at the end of the 2022 season, partly after the disastrous Vuelta a España, further boosted Landa's confidence.

"Lombardia was good because it was against big players. It reminded me what I can do."

Apart from the Tour, Landa said he might add the Ardennes Classics and the Vuelta to his 2023 program. He said, "The preparation is the same, but with the Tour coming up, I want to be more active in the early races.

Bilbao was equally enthusiastic about the Tour's Basque start, saying directly that the Grande Pearl was the reason he had removed the Giro from his 2023 plans.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I couldn't be more motivated. I know the first two stages perfectly, it's a training ground, and the first stage goes through Guernica, my home town."

"It's hard to give up on the Giro. The Giro is the race that shines the brightest and gives me the most confidence. But I know firsthand what it means to run the Giro and the Tour in the same year, and it would have been very difficult to do both."

Bilbao has competed in 14 Grand Tours, but only three in the Tour de France. However, Bilbao, who started the season at the Tour Down Under in January, said he is in great shape and will work 100% to participate. 'It's a big goal for me this season,' he said.

While the addition of Landa and Bilbao enhances Bahrain Victorious' chances in the Tour de France, Landa was generous in his praise of Bilbao's role in Bahrain Victorious as a teammate who "always helps me in difficult times."

"It is very difficult to find their weaknesses. Perhaps the most likely weakness would be if they had a bad day," Landa said. 'After all, we are all human, so maybe that could happen.'