Nairo Quintana keeps pedaling. The Colombian, one of the best climbers in the world, is not giving up despite the dent in his career following his departure from Arkéa. “A true cyclist does not give up in the face of adversity,” he claimed Wednesday at an emotional press conference in Bogotá to quell rumors of his premature retirement from the competition. Quintana, 32, champion of the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España, has defined his future which includes the continued search for a new squad in the top category. “I will keep fighting to compete and keep going on the bike until my body and mind resist.”
In his appearance, he admitted his problems of the past few months. “Today I want to tell you that I am in good shape to continue due to the events of the last few months where the refined environment in which I have evolved is undeniable and the inexplicable wall that is erected between competitive opportunities and my desire to continue doing so, I am not giving up and moving forward,” he said as he read aloud a statement he had written in his own handwriting before answering questions from the press.
Banned from driving the Vuelta by Arkéa, Quintana has not been courted by a European squad for several months, overwhelmed by the pressure that caused an unusual penalty for taking the painkiller tramadol at last year’s tour. He was disqualified – he finished sixth – but not sanctioned by the UCI as the World Anti-Doping Agency (AMA) doesn’t consider it doping. The day before, he had sparked speculation by posting on his social media a video with music by Carlos Vives, another Colombian idol like himself, showing him walking through the crowd under the message “Thank you Colombia for your love”. mountains of his native Boyacá cycled.”
“I was always ready to answer questions,” he said of the shadow of doping that hangs over his sport. “I respected the rules, I started with integrity,” he defended without emphasis. “I consider myself a fighter who, especially in Colombian cycling, recognizes men and women who overcome all possible circumstances: poverty, inequality, discrimination and injustice.”
In the land of bugs, Quintana, with his peasant appearance, is a charismatic figure that transcends sports. A fanbase accustomed to the epic suffering of their mountaineers, who used to only collect mountain jerseys, got used to enjoying the resounding triumphs previously elusive thanks to Nairo, as everyone knows him, the dean of the new generation of cyclists . He was the first Colombian to win the Giro d’Italia and also the first to collect two major victories – before the entry of Egan Bernal, Tour and Giro champion.
And Nairo made sure he remembered. “Although I still don’t have a team, I am a cyclist who is still available to wear a jersey and do my best on the road,” he explained. It is proposed to travel to Europe to create a direct bridge with the teams to overcome this pothole. “Without a doubt, my track record supports me. As I pedaled, I reminded the Colombians that it is possible to win against the best, that we can be on the top of the podium.”
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In his prime at Movistar, Chris Froome’s dominance of Sky Nairo robbed him of his cherished yellow dream of winning the Tour. In addition to winning the 2014 Giro and the 2016 Vuelta, and winning mountain stages in almost every race in the world, the Boyacá native has achieved three podiums in Paris. He was second to Froome in 2013 and 2015 and third in 2016. That year 2013, on this first Anthology Tour, a precocious Nairo made Colombians dream by keeping the youth jersey and the berg jersey in the same edition. Two Tirreno-Adriatico races, including a tour of Catalonia and one of the Basque Country, also stand out in the Colombian’s palmares.
Born on February 4, 1990 in Cómbita, Quintana is also well loved for his character and support for peace in Colombia in a country where sports stars usually don’t take sides. Quintana had a clear background: Lucho Herrera, the first Colombian champion of a major, the Tour of Spain in 1987. “I just want there to be peace in Colombia,” Lucho declared at the time, as the country dropped out of the conquest of the Palacio de Justice by the guerrillas M-19 in 1985, an episode known as the “Holocaust” and faced more than half a century of armed conflict involving state forces, guerrillas and paramilitaries as a prelude until the attack of the big drug cartels in the government of Virgilio Barco (1986-1990).
Many years passed and Nairo returned to wow with the exploits of the beetles. Among other things, he won the 2016 Vuelta just as Colombia was preparing to sign a hard-negotiated peace deal with FARC guerrillas. “Let the world know that our country is peace, sport and love,” said Nairo, in red, in his words at Plaza Cibeles in Madrid. “My interest is to continue flying my country’s flag in the great races of the world,” he concluded Wednesday, as he addressed the rumors of his retirement.
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