"He is among the favorites overall except for Pogacar" - Nairo Quintana happy to support Einer Rubio to top of the GC standings at Giro d'Italia
Cycling
Nairo Quintana spoke on his Instagram channel after the second stage of the Giro d'Italia in which Movistar Team managed once again to have well guarded an Einer Rubio who for the second consecutive day managed to enter among the favorites to the finish line and is fifth in the overall standings.
Nairo, who lost a few minutes, explained that today they are going to work with Fernando Gaviria to try to fight for the win in the first flat finish of the race and that as far as he is concerned what he wants is to continue accumulating kilometers to be able to get in the right shape to fight for stage victories:
"These two days we have completed important objectives such as taking Einer ahead, he is among the favorites overall except for Pogacar who is a little ahead which was expected," the Colombian said after yesterday's finish, happy with Movistar's opening performances in the race.
"Tomorrow we have a sprint stage for Fernando, let's hope to be there on the podium and work hard for him. We have a few days left for me to keep riding and keep getting into a good rhythm and get the good feeling we want to start moving," he concluded.
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By the way, speaking of spain and cycling. Anyone remember that buzz news about cyclists giving up in a race before the finish because there was talk of a doping test? Did anyone follow that story after or was it digested perfectly in order to feed the prejudice the media so easily implants in us?
Is there anything more pointless than asking riders about who will figure amongst the winners? And then such a nonsensical title, minerals are one of the most important components of diet, except water. Though, I guess we should count ourselves lucky that we’ve even managed to reach a situation where rival teams are allowed to admit that it’s likely a TP, JV or MVDP will beat them and they’re only discussing minor pickings.
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- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- right? i think it’s hungry journalists that fuel this, and i understand the jam they can be in trying to create stories, but you’d hate to think ANYONE is failing to appreciate how RARE someone like van der poel is (or how LUCKY we are to have both mvdp and pog racing at the same time). a little perspective is a good thing…OCexile03-04-2025
- Anyone know how long that 213km ride took? Coz without that the segment speeds don’t reveal anything surprising. If it took him Less than 5h ok but otherwise it was just some interval training for him.Jumpyjohn03-04-2025
- Hinault was even lighter than Pog at 62 kg when he won PR in 1981, beating Roger van Vlaeminck no less (albeit at the fag end of the latter's career), so it can be done.Cooldude03-04-2025
- Having to shoulder too much pressure from the Belgain public too much that he made a tactical mistake. That's what public pressure does to you. Poor Wout! Hopefully, lady luck befalls him soon.
KerisVroom03-04-2025 - If he's very lucky maybe he can podium a Tour one season, I certainly don't believe he can win it, evervappaxbipmv03-04-2025