"Retiring at my peak would have been an act of ego" - Nairo Quintana ready for the final race of his career
Cycling
Nairo Quintana's career will come to an end this weekend. The 36-year-old Colombian will bid farewell to professional racing at Giro dell'Emilia, rounding a career which kicked off fourteen years earlier. Among others with a victory at the Italian semi-classic.
Before his promotion to WorldTour with Movistar Team in 2012, Quintana's future brilliance was only indicated at during his spectacular 2010 Tour de l'Avenir victory. But the next year was marked by a struggle and it's taken until two years later for Quintana to pick where he left of.
That year, he accumulated four professional victories - among others a stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné - before he had wrapped the season in Italy in style. Fourteen years and two Grand Tour victories later, the story of one of the greatest GC riders of his generation comes to a close at the race where it all started. It's not the flashiest farewell race, but certainly one that holds a great significance to the Colombian climber.
The retirement was planned for some time
Speaking to Fuera del Límite, Quintana admits that the thoughts of retirement have been looming over his head for a while - in fact possibly since the Tramadol doping case in 2023, which eventually yielded only a light sentence of stripped Tour de France result, but still caused Quintana's career on a year-long hiatus.
"We could already see the decline coming. My wattage is still the same, I'm still performing very well, but there's a psychological fatigue," Quintana said. "I’m someone who plans things very carefully, also to start other projects and make that transition. My family and I decided I would keep going for two years and then we’d start new projects. That’s how I operate. We made that decision and it's been the right one."
For many fans, the aforementioned doping case and "silent suspension" have provided Quintana with a great chance to simply walk away from cycling. But the Colombian refused suggestions to "retire at his peak", rather opting to pursue the sport he enjoyed for as long as he found possible.
Nairo Quintana in action at the 2026 Montreal World Championships
Ultimately, that meant for three more seasons in the outfit of his former team Movistar.
"For me, retiring at my peak would have been an act of ego or selfishness," he said. "I wanted to keep contributing and giving back, which is what I’ve done over these two years too. And when I had the chance to shine, well, I was there."
Not just for the show
And this April, more than four years since he last victory, Quintana added a new one. At the Vuelta Asturias (2.1), he won the second stage, which turned out to have been enough to secure the GC victory.
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"The last race I won this year was spectacular for me. Even though for many that won’t mean much, for me it’s one of the races that has fulfilled me immensely and gave me so much emotion," Quintana concluded.
The 2026 Giro dell'Emilia edition takes place on Saturday. The startlist is filled with prominent names including new world champion Brandon McNulty.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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