Nairo Quintana ambitious ahead of Giro d'Italia: "We arrive with the intention of battling"

Nairo Quintana arrives with the ambition of winning a stage at the Giro d'Italia 2025. Last year, after a very complicated start to the campaign, only Tadej Pogacar prevented him from winning in Livigno. This season, without the Slovenian cannibal in the race, he hopes to raise his arms again in a Grand Tour.

Speaking to Marca, the Colombian was very ambitious about his role and that of Movistar Team in the Corsa Rosa: "I am well, in good condition. We came with the intention of battling and getting good results. We believe we are valid."

He makes it clear that the team's main objective will be to try to win stages, although he does not rule out that Einer Rubio could fight to finish in the top 10 again: "There is a high level of riders, but we think we can offer a good performance. We will surely go to hunt stages. We're going all out." Nairo, who won the Giro in 2014 and was second in 2017, is in love with the Italian race: "This race has a great passion for the people and the place. It's a very important test within the world of cycling."

He doesn't want to reveal which stages he will choose to try to win, although he assures that Movistar Team has a very clear plan: "We have been setting goals to arrive well to the race, but right now I wouldn't know how to say one in particular. We'll go day by day."

His start of the year was promising with good performances in the first one-day races he raced, although he then dropped out of Andalucía. He did Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya going fairly unnoticed, although he claims to be in good shape for the Giro: "I had a flu that took me out in Andalucía, but I've been improving. Both individually and as a group we're doing well."

Men like Primoz Roglic or Juan Ayuso will be in a high level race, so he doesn't foresee an easy race: "There will be good riders and it will be a very hard race. With that presence, it's sure to be very complicated."