When asked what he would like as a birthday present for the 2022 season, Mikel Landa, who turns 32 on Monday, December 13, replied very simply: "Health."

Landa's concise list of goals for the upcoming season is understandable, given that his season has been far more complicated than he would have liked, thanks to a serious injury sustained in a major crash in the first week of the Giro d'Italia.

He returned to racing in the summer and took a morale-boosting overall win at the Vuelta a Burgos before heading to the Vuelta a España. He was the only Basque rider to attack in the second week of the Vuelta at Lagos de Covadonga.

Landa's attack and retirement in the Vuelta, which lasted only a few hours, summed up his season.

"You always need luck, but if you are healthy you can do your best," he said in a video press conference on Sunday from the December Spanish training camp in Bahrain-Victorias.

"I had a very difficult season last year because of the Giro.

Despite turning 32, Landa remains as ambitious as ever, citing the Grand Tour as the race he most wants to win in 2022, despite having finished third in the 2015 Giro d'Italia and having been on the Grand Tour podium.

As for which race would suit him best, Landa highlighted his participation in the Tour de France as one major goal. The other is the Giro, "which will be a great opportunity for me because I've done very few time trials. I don't know if I'll be in one or the other, but ideally I'd like to be in both."

Landa had a very solid start to the 2021 season after a dramatic loss in the Giro and a gradual stall in the Vuelta. He finished sixth in the season's first race, the Trofeo Laiglia, third in the GP Industria & Artigianato, another Italian one-day race, and third in the Tirreno-Adriatico.

So it may come as no surprise that his off-season is essentially the same as in 2021, with a second training camp in January and the year beginning in February.

"I've made a few changes to my TT bike, but nothing special beyond that. I'm in training camp now, and there's another training camp in January."

"I still want to get better and better, so I have to find continuity and improve year by year. Last season (2021) was a great season for Burleen Victorious. If more riders win and do well in GC, it will be good for the team."

Landa, who re-signed with Bahrain Victorious through 2023, will be the first rider to spend more than two seasons with one team next season, having spent three years with Euskaltel from 2011 to 2013. Since then, he has spent two seasons each with Astana, Sky, and Movistar before joining Bahrain in 2020.

The trust of the team will help Randa to shine again, in terms of boosting his morale. But as the Basques recognize, the most important thing in 2022 is to stay healthy.