The nervousness that typically permeates the start of a mountain stage at the Tour de France was punctured by the joyous cheering of the small but vocal pocket of Colombian fans congregated near the Movistar bus in Lannemezan on Thursday morning.
Already at fever pitch when feting Winner Anacona, there was a striking intensity about their chanting when Nairo Quintana emerged from the bus and soft-pedalled across to the crowd barrier to salute them.
“Nai-ro! Nai-ro!, Nai-ro!” went the mantra as Quintana entered the forest of outstretched arms and fluttering yellow, red and blue flags to be among his people. Forty minutes down the road from Lourdes, a religious experience.
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Quintana would produce no miracles on stage 12, but he may feel perhaps, that he has at least crossed the threshold of hope by breaking even with the seemingly unflappable Chris Froome (Sky) on the final haul to Plateau de Beille at the end of a day of extremes. From broiling temperatures on the Portet-d’Aspet and Col de la Core, the race would climb into heavy rain, hailstones and thunder by late afternoon.
“It was a difficult day, with really demanding climbs and, above all, serious temperature changes and rain in the finale,” Quintana said after a stage. “The weather took even more energy from us, but we withstood it and we attacked the leader several times.”
Despite suffering heavy losses at the hands of Froome and Sky on La Pierre-Saint-Martin two days ago, Quintana and his teammate Alejandro Valverde felt sufficiently emboldened to attack the yellow jersey in turn, albeit in hope more than in expectation.
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