Viewed from 2015, in the countdown to the start of the Vuelta a España, the 2012 edition of the same race must almost feel like another world to Nairo Quintana (Movistar).
Making his debut in a Grand Tour at 22 in his first full year racing for a WorldTour team, Movistar, in the 2012 Vuelta Quintana flew under the media radar until stage 16’s dauntingly difficult summit finish at Cueto Negro, an extension of the already tough, better-known ascent to Pajares in northern Spain.
Suddenly, though, in the stage’s closing kilometres, Quintana found himself in the limelight. As team-mate and leader Alejandro Valverde attempted to shed as many of his rivals as possible, it was Quintana who cranked up the pace in the leading group on the steepest slopes of the climb, prior to finishing sixth himself on the stage, his first top ten mountain finish in a Grand Tour.
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Overall, whilst Valverde claimed second in Madrid in 2012, Quintana finished a relatively anonymous 36th. Fast forward three more years and, whilst Valverde has gone from strength to strength, the Colombian has now built up a solid palmarès of Grand Tour results that makes him a very solid overall contender in his own right. There can be no doubt that after his second place this summer in the Tour, Quintana will be looking to put the memories of the 2014 Vuelta - where he crashed out injured after one day in the lead - behind him for good.
“I’m no longer the kid I was in 2012,” Quintana told Spanish website biciciclismo as the Vuelta start approached. “This is my sixth Grand Tour and I have more confidence and more experience.”
“I’ve recovered well from the Tour, and I feel good. The Vuelta is another big challenge, we’re back here in good shape and with a great team and I hope the Vuelta starts well for us. Last year I was in very good condition and unfortunately that crash forced me out of the race.”
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