After a more than complicated start to the season,
Nairo Quintana has finally found his sensations and has proven his worth and why he was selected to race the
Giro d'Italia despite many injuries and illnesses over the past few months.
The
Movistar Team rider showed class on stage 15 and only a superhuman Tadej Pogacar could beat him on Sunday's stage in the Corsa Rosa. As it could not be otherwise, before facing a new big mountain stage this Tuesday, he was very satisfied with the sensations and with his performance during the rest day.
Regarding stage 16, where very low temperatures are expected, Nairo is aware of the difficulty, but he is ready to try again. He feels strong and excited and faces the third week fresh and eager to give his team and his fans a stage win in a Grand Tour:
"Many will ask if I'm excited and the truth is yes, I had a great stage with a spectacular day that was beyond belief, there were many emotions, we are still there, the body is very well. I am always grateful for the support, for pushing me, for pushing me... We have finished the rest day and a hard stage awaits us, with cold, with rain, but we are prepared for that and we hope to do very well".
The truth is that taking into account that he did not race in 2023 and that in the beginning of 2024 Covid-19 after the Tour Colombia left him out for several weeks and that he could barely compete in the Volta a Catalunya (from which he was also injured), seeing him in a high mountain stage of more than 220 kilometers and 5000 meters of elevation gain fighting to win, being the best of a breakaway of 50 riders and only being surpassed at the finish of Livigno by Tadej Pogacar makes it very clear that we have Nairo for a while despite his 34 years of age.
In this last week of the Giro d'Italia there are several more stages in which he will surely continue trying to sneak into a breakaway that, in addition to fighting for the win, also make him improve places in the general classification or possibly thinking of the KOM jersey.