Mikel Landa is one of the few Euskaltel riders that have found a new team for 2014. The talented climber has signed a contract with Astana and is looking forward to supporting team captain Vincenzo Nibali in the coming season.

The demise of Euskaltel has left most of the riders on the Basque team without a contract for 2014. At the moment, only 9 riders have found a new team for the coming season with star rider Samuel Sanchez being one of the riders that is still left on the market.

One of the fortunate ones is talented climber Mikel Landa who has been signed by Astana. Having spent his first three years as a professional with Euskaltel, he is now ready to ride in support of his new captain Vincenzo Nibali.

"I felt very flattered because they showed me lots of interest and have great ambitions for me which I like a lot," he told El Correo. "They have a great leader in Nibali and have strengthened the roster. Although nothing has been finalized, they see me as investment in the future."

Landa burst onto the scene in 2011 when he won the queen stage of the Vuelta a Burgos and showed his talents one year later when he finished 2nd behind Daniel Moreno in the GP Miguel Indurain. This year he was 2nd in the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madria and Vuelta a Asturias and 6th in both the Vuelta Burgos and the Clasica San Sebastian.

He may been very inconsistent in his first three seasons but those kind of performances have been enough to attract the interest of Astana. However, he knows that he has been extremely fortunate to find a new team in a market that is loaded with unemployed riders.

"I'm one of the lucky ones to have team," he said. "I signed the deal pretty soon and so had peace in mind.

"It has been a roller coaster year with several different feelings," he added. "Sometimes it seemed that the team could be saved and sometimes everything appeared to be over which was the unfortunate outcome.  It looks like even Samuel has trouble finding a new team and I don't know yet whether the riders will gradually find a new home."

Having been part of the team for three years, Landa is annoyed by the fate of Euskaltel.

"We were closer than they were in any other team," he said. "It is often said that we were like a family. We all know each other very well so the current situation is a shame."

In addition to Landa, Mikel Nieve (Sky), Garikoitz Bravo (Euskadi), Ricardo Mestre (Efapel), Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar), Romain Sicard (Europcar), Peio Bilbao (Caja Rural) and Ion and Gorka Izagirre (both Movistar) are the only Euskaltel riders to have found a team for 2014.