Nairo Quintana

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This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Quintana and the second or maternal family name is Rojas.
Nairo Quintana
Nairo Quintana, Vuelta al Pais Vasco 2013 (cropped).jpg
Personal information
Full name Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas
Born (1990-02-04) 4 February 1990 (age 25)
Cómbita, Boyacá, Colombia[1]
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)[2]
Weight 58 kg (128 lb; 9.1 st)[2]
Team information
Current team Movistar Team
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)
2009 Boyaca es para Vivirla
2010–2011 Café de Colombia-Colombia es Pasión
2012– Movistar Team
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
Mountains classification (2013)
Young rider classification (2013, 2015)
1 individual stage (2013)
Giro d'Italia
General classification (2014)
Young rider classification (2014)
2 individual stages (2014)
Vuelta a España
2 TTT stage (2012, 2014)

Stage races

Tour of the Basque Country (2013)
Tirreno–Adriatico (2015)
Vuelta a Burgos (2013, 2014)
Tour de l'Avenir (2010)
Route du Sud (2012)
Vuelta a Murcia (2012)
Tour de San Luis (2014)

One-day races and Classics

Giro dell'Emilia (2012)
Infobox last updated on
27 July 2015

Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas, ODB, (born 4 February 1990) is a Colombian racing cyclist, currently riding for the Movistar Team.[3][4]

Quintana is a specialist climber, known for his ability to launch sustained and repeated attacks on ascents of steep gradient. His best career results are winning the 2014 Giro d'Italia as well as a 2nd place overall in the 2013 Tour de France and 2015 Tour de France.

His brother Dayer Quintana is also a professional cyclist, and is a member of the Movistar Team.

Early life[edit]

Born in Cómbita,[5] in the Boyacá Department of Colombia, Quintana comes from a humble background, but his family still saved up to buy Quintana a second-hand mountain bike to make the 16 km (9.9 mi) journey to school.[6] Quintana still resides in Cómbita. his parents names are José Quintana and Eloisa Rojas.

Career[edit]

Early career[edit]

He started his career on the team "Boyacá es para Vivirla". In 2010, Quintana won the Tour de l'Avenir as part of the team "Café de Colombia – Colombia es Pasión", proving to be one of the great prospects for the future of Colombian cycling.[1]

Movistar (2012–present)[edit]

2012 season[edit]

In 2012, Quintana moved to Europe to join the Spanish Movistar Team. He won the overall classification in the Vuelta a Murcia. Later, he took a prestigious victory at the Critérium du Dauphiné, when he sparked a counter-attack after a select group of riders including leader Bradley Wiggins reached the last escapee of the day. He held on to his solo lead in the descent leading to Morzine.[7] After winning that stage, he later ended up winning the Route du Sud that year. Quintana made his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España, where he was one of Alejandro Valverde's key climbing domestiques as the Spaniard finished second overall. Quintana finished 36th overall. In October, Quintana won the Giro dell'Emilia.

2013 season[edit]

Quintana at the 2013 Tour of Britain

In 2013, Quintana won stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya, and the following month, he won the queen stage of the Tour of the Basque Country by sprinting to victory after the final climb in EibarArrate, two seconds before a group of six fellow overall contenders.[8] Quintana took the overall win in the final time trial by finishing second behind Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), gaining enough time over Team Sky's Sergio Henao to take the leader's jersey from him.[9]

At the 2013 Tour de France, Quintana attacked on the Col de Pailheres during Stage 8 and became the first man to cross the highest pass that year. He was later overtaken, on the stage's penultimate climb, by race favorite Chris Froome. Quintana nonetheless took the lead of the young rider classification and received the award for that stage's most aggressive rider.[10] On stage 15 to Mont Ventoux, Quintana again attacked early on and only the race leader Froome was able to match him, eventually dropping him in the final two kilometers of the climb after they had raced up much of it together.[11] After stage 15, Quintana was 6th overall. Stage 18 for the first time including doing the famous and iconic Alpe d'Huez climb twice. Quintana's 4th-place finish moved him into a 3rd place on the podium position in the overall standings for the first time, in his first TDF. In stage 20, he didn't just defend his 3rd place podium position, he attacked Froome riding away from him in the last kilometer during the novel climb to Annecy-Semnoz to win the stage over Joaquin Rodriquez and Froome and moving securely into second place overall where he finished the Tour. He also won the Young Riders Jersey and the King of the Mountains competition. Finishing second overall in the General Classification was the best result for a Colombian or Latin-American rider in the Tour the France and the first Tour debutant to finish on the podium since Jan Ullrich in 1996. After the Tour, Quintana went on to win the Vuelta a Burgos where he won stage 5 of the race after dropping Vincenzo Nibali on the final climb.

2014 season[edit]

Quintana in the Maglia Rosa at the 2014 Giro d'Italia

Because of the high mountains included in the 2014 Giro d'Italia, Quintana decided to aim for the Giro and skip the Tour de France.[12] His 2014 season started off with an early overall victory at the Tour de San Luis after winning the mountaintop finish of Stage 4. Quintana placed second overall behind Alberto Contador at Tirreno-Adriatico in March,[13] and finished fifth in the Volta a Catalunya after getting sick between the races.[14]

At the Giro, Quintana entered the race in weakened condition mainly due to the illness he caught early in the season. Quintana's Movistar team began with 8th place in the opening team time trial in Belfast, 55 seconds down on winners Orica Greenedge, after rain during their effort.[15] In Stage 6, Quintana was caught up behind a huge crash as the peloton approached the finishing climb of Montecassino, which saw him sit 2 minutes and 8 seconds behind leader Michael Matthews. After the individual time trial on Stage 12, Quintana was 6th overall, 3 minutes and 29 seconds behind new leader Rigoberto Uran.[16] Quintana started to show strong form on stages 14 and 15, reducing the gap to 2'40". He would later reach his top form in the last week of the race.[17] In Stage 16, he claimed the leader's maglia rosa in controversial circumstances as some of his top rivals had mistakenly thought that the descent of the Stelvio was neutralized; riding through dense fog and low visibility, Quintana joined an attack with Pierre Rolland and Ryder Hesjedal, eventually winning the stage and gaining 4'11" on Uran. In stage 19, Quintana flew up the Monte Grappa, winning the mountain time trial by 17 seconds over Fabio Aru to extend his overall lead over Uran to 3 minutes and 7 seconds. He maintained his lead on Monte Zoncolan on Stage 20 and the final stage into Trieste. Quintana also won the white jersey for best young rider.[18]

After the Giro, Quintana took a couple months off from racing. He returned to Europe in August aiming to win the Vuelta a España. Two weeks before the Vuelta, Quintana won the Vuelta a Burgos, winning stage 3 and coming in second in the final time trial to give himself enough time over second placed Daniel Moreno. In the Vuelta, Quintana had the race lead coming in to Stage ten's ITT. However, he crashed badly after misjudging a bend and lost 4 minutes and the red jersey.[19] He crashed again at the beginning of the next stage and withdrew from the race due to a broken collarbone.[20]

2015 season[edit]

Quintana wearing the white jersey at the 2015 Tour de France

Quintana started his 2015 season at the Tour de San Luis.[21] He finished third overall in the race.[22] Quintana was originally scheduled to ride the Vuelta a Andalucía, but a crash at the Colombian national road race championships caused his withdrawal.[23] His next race was therefore the Tirreno–Adriatico. Here he took his first win of the 2015 season on the summit finish at Terminillo, taking over the race lead as well. He won in a blizzard of snow.[24] He would not relinquish the lead over the 10 kilometre final time trial and went on to win the overall as well as the young rider jersey.[25] Quintana was selected by his team for two cobbled classics (the E3 Harelbeke and the Dwars door Vlaanderen) in order to prepare him for the cobblestones that had been scheduled to be part of the 2015 Tour de France.[26]

Achievements[edit]

2009
1st MaillotColombia.PNG National Under-23 Time Trial Championships
7th Subida a Urkiola
2010
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de l'Avenir
1st Stages 6 & 7
2011
1st Jersey red.svg Mountains classification, Volta a Catalunya
2012
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Vuelta a Murcia
1st Stage 1
1st Jersey orange.svg 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 Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st Jersey white.svg Points classification
1st Stage 4
1st Jersey violet.svg Overall Vuelta a Burgos
1st Stage 5
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Jersey polkadot.svg Mountains classification
1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification
1st Stage 20
4th Overall Volta a Catalunya
1st Stage 3
7th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
2014
1st Jersey orange.svg Overall Tour de San Luis
1st Jersey red.svg Mountains classification
1st Stage 4
1st Jersey pink.svg Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification
1st Stages 16 & 19 (ITT)
1st Jersey violet.svg Overall Vuelta a Burgos
1st Jersey red.svg Mountains classification
1st Stage 3
Vuelta a España
1st Stage 1 (TTT)
Held Jersey red.svg after Stage 9
2nd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification
5th Overall Volta a Catalunya
6th UCI World Tour
2015
1st Jersey blue.svg Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification
1st Stage 5
2nd Overall Route du Sud
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification
1st Jersey with a yellow background on the number bib. Team classification
3rd Overall Tour de San Luis
4th Overall Vuelta a España
1st team classification Team classification
4th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
8th Overall Tour de Romandie
3rd UCI World Tour

Grand Tour general classification results timeline[edit]

Grand Tour 2012 2013 2014 2015
Pink jersey Giro d'Italia 1
Yellow jersey Tour de France 2 2
red jersey Vuelta a España 36 WD 4

WD = Withdrew; IP = In Progress; — = Did not participate

Other major stage races[edit]

Race 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Paris–Nice  –  – 15  –  –
Tirreno–Adriatico  –  –  – 2 1
Volta a Catalunya 103 26 4 5  –
Tour of the Basque Country  –  – 1  – 4
Tour de Romandie  –  –  –  – 8
Critérium du Dauphiné  – 38  –  –  –

WD = Withdrew; IP = In Progress; — = Did not participate

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Casa Editorial El Tiempo. "Nairo Quintana". eltiempo.com. 
  2. ^ a b "Nairo Quintana". Movistar Team. Abarca Sports. Retrieved 3 January 2014. 
  3. ^ Yacelga Abreo, Alfredo (4 December 2010). "A Nairo Quintana el ciclismo lo marcó desde el día en que nació" [In cycling, Nairo Quintana marked it from the day he was born]. El Espectador (in Spanish) (Fidel Cano Correa; Comunican S.A.). Retrieved 20 February 2012. 
  4. ^ Stokes, Shane (4 October 2011). "Former Tour de l’Avenir winner Nairo Quintana signs with Movistar". VeloNation (Chevy Chase, Maryland, U.S.: VeloNation LLC). Retrieved 3 March 2012. 
  5. ^ Jueves 31 de julio de 2014. "Home archivo – Noticias Principales de Colombia y el Mundo – Noticias". Eltiempo.Com. Retrieved 2014-08-01. 
  6. ^ "Who is Nairo Quintana?". Cycling Inquisition. 2013-04-06. Retrieved 2013-07-06. [dead link]
  7. ^ Susan Westemeyer (9 June 2012). "Dauphine: Wiggins and Sky dominate the Joux Plane". Cyclingnews.com (Bath, UK: Future plc). Retrieved 22 October 2012. 
  8. ^ Daniel Benson (4 April 2013). "Quintana wins in the rain on Arrate finish". Cyclingnews.com (Bath, UK: Future plc). Retrieved 6 April 2013. 
  9. ^ "Quintana wins overall at Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco". Cyclingnews.com (Bath, UK: Future plc). 6 April 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2013. 
  10. ^ "Boom: Froome blows the race to pieces!". Tour de France (Amaury Sport Organisation). 6 July 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2013. 
  11. ^ "Stage 15 Results – 2013 Tour de France". 
  12. ^ Cary, Tom (29 January 2014). "Tour de France 2014: Boost for Chris Froome as Nairo Quintana will miss race in favour of Giro d'Italia". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 July 2015. 
  13. ^ Nigel Wynn. "Alberto Contador wins Tirreno-Adriatico 2014". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2014-07-31. 
  14. ^ "Joaquim Rodriguez wins Volta a Catalunya; Lieuwe Westra takes finale – VeloNews.com". Velonews.competitor.com. 2014-03-30. Retrieved 2014-07-31. 
  15. ^ "How Nairo Quintana won his first Grand Tour". BBC Sport. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014. 
  16. ^ "Nairo Quintana wins 2014 Giro d’Italia". Cycling Weekly. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014. 
  17. ^ "Movistar's Nairo Quintana seals overall victory as Colombians turn back the clock". Daily Telegraph. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014. 
  18. ^ "Quintana proud to be first Colombian winner of the Giro d'Italia". Cycling News. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014. 
  19. ^ Alasdair Fotheringham (2 September 2014). "Quintana loses Vuelta a España lead in near-catastrophic crash". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). Retrieved 2 September 2014. 
  20. ^ "Quintana abandons Vuelta a Espana". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014. 
  21. ^ Casa Editorial El Tiempo (13 January 2015). "Declaraciones de Nairo Quintana a su llegada al Tour de San Luis – Ciclismo – ELTIEMPO.COM". eltiempo.com. 
  22. ^ "Diaz wins Tour de San Luis". Cyclingnews.com. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015. 
  23. ^ Clarke, Stuart (13 February 2015). "Nairo Quintana to miss Vuelta a Andalucia after nationals crash". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 15 March 2015. 
  24. ^ "Nairo Quintana". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 15 March 2015. 
  25. ^ Nigel Wynn (17 March 2015). "Nairo Quintana wins 2015 Tirreno-Adriatico". Cycling Weekly (IPC Media Sports & Leisure network). Retrieved 17 March 2015. 
  26. ^ Windsor, Richard. "Quintana to race on cobbles in preparation for the Tour, but should the pavé have a place?". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 15 March 2015. 

External links[edit]