Mikel Landa denies Astana transfer

Confusion is surrounding Mikel Landa's future as the rider himself denies reports in the Basque media that he's penned a deal with Astana.

The usually trustworthy newspaper El Diario Vaco reported on Saturday morning that the ace climber, 23, had signed for the Kazakh squad for next season. The report came only days after team manager Giuseppe Martinelli publicly declared his liking for the rider.

At the start line of the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Burgos a few hours later, though, the equally trustworthy website El Pedal de Frodo says Landa knows nothing of a deal being reached.

"What's been published is not true", he said. "I'm still an Euskaltel rider and I've got one year running on my contract. I won't make a decision on my future before the team says it's definitely stopping".

A decision on Euskaltel's future is expected to be taken by Thursday the 15th of August. Until then, we're highly unlikely to see any Euskaltel riders signing for new teams - officially, anyway.