2013 UCI World Tour - The ten best pro-cyclists in the world

 

 

What follows is the third, in ten portraits, covering the UCI’s top ten World Tour riders, their 2013 season, and their future prospects. This article will be about Nairo Quintana, the world’s eighth best professional cyclist.

 

Additional articles in the series: Richie Porte #10, Rui Costa #9, Fabian Cancellara #7, Daniel Marin #6, Vincenzo Nibali #5, Peter Sagan #4, Alejandro Valverde #3, Chris Froome #2 & Joaquim Rodríguez #1.

 

Nairo Quintana, Movistar – #8 / 366 points – 2013

 

Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas, born 1990, originates from a family of poor means. His father sold fruits from the back of a car, and his mother stayed at home, and took care of the house. Still children, Nairo and brother Dayer had to learn how to work on cars, fix bikes and farm. At ten they started driving taxis during the night (in order not to be discovered by the authorities), and Quintana’s plan for the future was to join the Colombian army, as that was one of the few places he reckoned he could make a living. Fortunately destiny took him elsewhere, as he discovered his skills on a bike.

 

The only reason that Quintana started cycling was in order to get to school. Although he could take a bus, it would cost too much, and with four siblings, there simply was not enough money to go around. Instead, his father saved up and bought Quintana a secondhand mountain bike, which would bring him through 16km of mountainous and rugged terrain to class.

 

On his way to and from school Quintana would daydream about racing, and about winning a stage, which would always end on a mountaintop finish. On his way home Quintana would actually have to tackle a lengthy 8% climb. The climb was in fact so hard that groups of local riders trained on it. One day Quintana decided to ride alongside such a group to see how well he could do:

 

“They started accelerating and accelerating and they couldn’t drop me,” he told Cycling News. “So I got home, I told my dad, and he was very pleased. He bought me a racing bike and then we went on to village races.”

 

Although his family was so poor they could not afford to pay his race fees he still prevailed. His father came up with a plan, and asked race organizers to let Quintana race, with the promise of paying them afterwards (with the freshly earned prize money).

 

Three short facts:

 

Before joining his first team he did not know anything about pro cycling, or even the names of any Colombian riders (former or current).

 

While in Europe he lives with Uran and Henao in a small apartment in Pamplona.

 

He wore a good luck charm throughout the recent Tour de France , given to him by Mauricio Soler.

 

 

Boyacá Es Para Vivirla and Colombia Es Pasion

 

Even in a country packed with talented amateur riders Quintana managed to shine, and it did not take long before he was spotted. In 2009 Quintana (now 19-year-old) joined Boyacá Es Para Vivirla; a team funded by his home department’s government. He did moderately well, and even though he was significantly younger than his competitors collected the Colombian U23 ITT title. He also placed tenth on a stage of the Giro della Valle d’Aosta, behind #9 Thibaut Pinot and just in front #11 Sacha Modolo and #12 Stefano Pirazzi (for the record this was a stage race Pinot later won).

 

In 2010 Quintana changed to Colombia Es Pasion (the current 4-72 team), and the change to a larger team proved beneficial. Although he lacked initial success, and merely completed a number of races, he would end the season with a phenomenal result: During the third stage of the Tour de l’Avenir Quintana placed ninth, and this achievement would herald the following days’ accomplishments. He won the sixth stage against established super-talents Talansky, Slagter and Kelderman. More astonishingly he also won the subsequent seventh stage ITT, and the overall classification.

 

Winning the “Tour of the Future” with 1’ 44” to the nearest rival (Talansky) was no small feat, and he ended up meeting Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, and was celebrated as a hero in multiple parades and presentations in his homeland.

 

Quintana’s name suddenly gave resonance throughout professional cycling.

 

Nonetheless, some may have considered his achievement poor luck or even coincidence, because his 2010 season did not reach similar heights.

 

With a mountain classification win at Volta a Catalunya, and a subsequent fifteenth overall in the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon (interestingly the rider just in front of him was none other than Chris Froome, thus providing the first divination of future clashes) as his best it would seem that Quintana was far from his 2009 success. This was emphasized by a poor performance during the Tour de l’Avenir, and at the World Championships in Denmark.

 

Now this “poor performance” should be taken with a pinch of salt, especially considering his background. While 2010 did perhaps not evince great personal achievements, Quintana still proved to be an invaluable help in the mountains, and a loyal teammate. Amongst other he helped compatriot Esteban Chaves to the overall l’Avenir win, and highlighted Colombia’s diversity and talent.

 

In an interview with Solo Ciclismo, about how Colombian riders were treated during the French race, Quintana remarked:

 

“Things have not changed. This time we had problems with the French, the Australians and also Americans during the race, but we never allowed ourselves to be humiliated as they clearly wished had been the case. They didn't want us to be in the front of the peloton, they "brake-checked" us, they yelled at us, treated us badly, but we took them on and gave it right back. One day, a French rider grabbed Jarlinson Pantano's bike by the handlebar and threw him off his bike. So in retaliation, I went over and pushed this French rider into a ditch. In the end, however, it was him [the French rider] who asked us for forgiveness. At the end of that stage, the directors had to mediate the situation, so we wouldn't have any more problems. As the days went by, things calmed down. They saw that we were the strongest, and they learned to respect us.”

 

You gotta love it when lesser nations hands it to the big ones…

 

Quintana also revealed that his team even needed outside help to help cope with the pressure:

 

“In the team we have a psychologist, who has worked with us on this matter. We have even seen movies to help us work through this, and help raise our self-esteem. This way we won't feel inferior to them. We are not only from a small country, but we are also physically smaller, and that puts us at a disadvantage with people who are much taller and, as if that weren't enough, are also racists.”

 

Bullies and racists. Pfhh!

 

Movistar

 

Despite a less than stellar season Quintana was in 2012 picked up by Movistar, and the small Colombian escarabajos did not disappoint.

 

Quintana won the first stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, and also the overall classification. He proceeded with an overall second at the Vuelta a Madrid, and then accomplished his hitherto biggest result: an intrepid victory during the sixth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine; beating seasoned world-stars, such as Evans, Moreno, Wiggins and Froome. He subsequently won the overall classification at the Route du Sud, though luckily Movistar chose to spare him from the upcoming Tour de France.

 

After a bit of respite Quintana undertook his first GT: la Vuelta. Here he helped team captain Valverde to a satisfactory overall second place, and proved to be an invaluable help in the mountains. Without Quintana it is far from certain Valverde would have achieved his overall result, and he featured prominently alongside Contador, Rodriquez and Valverde; even on the steepest slopes and longest stages.

 

The young Colombian (still only 22 of age remember) managed a final season win, during the Giro dell’Emilia, where he won against a number of the world’s best in-form climbers.

 

Nairo Quintana’s 2013 season, and the reason as to why he is currently considered #8 in the world

 

An impressive third place in the Paris-Nice TT (amongst specialists Porte, Talansky and Van Garderen) was Quintana’s first result of a year that would see him become a household name. Then he took third stage of the Volta a Catalunya, before claiming his biggest scalp yet; namely a stage victory and overall at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

 

Quintana was now jostling with the biggest stars in cycling, and often beating them at their own game.

 

It was no doubt his recent success that got him onboard Movistar’s Tour team, and Quintana seemed content to once again being selected to play second fiddle to Valverde. However, what seemed to be a fixed hierarchical system within the ranks of Movistar, came to an abrupt end during the thirteenth stage, with Valverde loosing a wheel, about ten minutes, and contact to the rest of the Tour favorites. Fortunately Movistar decided to send Rui Costa, and not Quintana, back to help their team captain, who had been caught in the crosswinds.

 

Disaster for Moviestar? Not really, because their new prince had just been born.

 

With his second (after Froome) during the Mons Ventoux stage, Quintana underlined his talent in the high mountains (while not conveying a single emotion on a pain-free face). And with a sixth on the 32km ITT and a fourth on legendary Alpe d’Huez he established himself as Movistar’s captain, while he simultaneously ascended the mountains and the overall classification.

 

Quintana proved, with his win during the twentieth stage, that he was the only rider who could occasionally threaten Froome, and even force him into the occasional game of cat and mouse. The stage win, on the twentieth of July, secured him the Tour second overall, the mountain classification jersey, and best placed overall young rider. Coincidentally all on the independence day of Colombia. Talk about the crowds going wild.

 

Oh yes… Not quite satisfied he also managed to squeeze in a stage win plus overall at the Vuelta a Burgos and a three-year-contract with Movistar.

 

2014 and the future

 

The future of Nairo Quintana is bright and shining.

 

He is considerably younger than every one of his current opponents, and as such there is plenty of room to improve.

 

He has proven that he should be counted among the very best climbers of the world.

 

At just 1.66m and 57kg he can fly up the steepest of mountains, but more importantly, in rugged terrain he can still manage a time trial that is not far from the best (especially important as ITT’s has traditionally been the bane of most the minuscule climbers).

 

Finally, he has already proven the endurance it takes to compete in a three week Grand Tour. The only question that really remains is whether he decides to do both the Giro and the Tour de France, or just the Tour, and if he will be the sole designated leader. He will be a favorite nonetheless, but hopefully Movistar will not pressure him too much. It would not be the first time a young talent has been destroyed by too hard a schedule.

 

It is however clear that Movistar believes in him:

 

“It’s a surprise for us how well he is doing. For us, his qualities were unquestionable. We’ve known that for a long time,” Team Director Unzué told VeloNews. “What was in question was his ability to stay strong for three weeks. The day-by-day recovery and how well he’s done is even a surprise for us.”

 

“He has tremendous quality. … We already saw that in the first moments. He can climb, he races smart, he knows how to stay out of the wind, and move in the bunch. It’s too much to say about a young rider that they will someday win a Tour, but we have already seen in this Tour that he has the quality to be a grand tour rider. He has tremendous heart, and is not afraid to attack. We shall see.”

 

And so we shall. Quintana has without doubt proven to be the prodigy of 2013.

 

…

 

By the way, just two sports dwell in the hearts of Colombians:

 

Cycling and football.

 

For the first time since 1998 Colombia has qualified to the World Cup, and is presently ranked fourth on FIFA’s overall list. The finals are held in neighbor territory Brazil the thirteenth of July, which is coincidentally about the same time that Quintana could be destroying Froome and Co. in the Tour de France.

 

Colombia just might be in for the big ride.

 

Quintana’s Palmarès

 

2010

1st Overall Tour de l'Avenir

1st Stages 6 & 7

 

2011

1st Mountains classification, Volta a Catalunya

 

2012

1st Overall Vuelta a Murcia

1st Stage 1

1st Overall Route du Sud

1st Stage 3

1st Giro dell'Emilia

1st Stage 6 Critérium du Dauphiné

1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España

1st Young rider classification, Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid

 

2013

1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country

1st Stage 4

1st Points classification

1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos

1st Stage 5

2nd Overall Tour de France

1st Mountains classification

1st Young rider classification

1st Stage 20

4th Overall Volta a Catalunya

1st Stage 3

7th Overall Vuelta a Andalucíav