The big-screen television in Manizales at the finish area of the final stage of the Colombia Oro y Paz cut out at the worst possible moment. Suspense was already high, with Rodrigo Contreras on the brink of a spectacular stage win and Egan Bernal making a dramatic late grab for the overall, but the blackout threw the crowds into a state of complete agitation.
Those with a view of the finish line could see it for themselves but many others had to rely on street vendors listening to the commentary through crackling radios.
"Quintana!" came the shout from one selling corn-on-the-cobs, sending those in the immediate vicinity into fits of excitement.
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"Dayer!" came the next shout. It was far from disappointment, but some of the magic did slip from the atmosphere.
It's difficult to overstate Nairo Quintana's popularity in Colombia, which hits levels only matched by footballers Falcao and James Rodríguez. Rigobero Urán is adored, too, but in a man-of-the-people way. With Nairo it's almost religious. As a sickly baby his parents famously took him to a shaman, believing him to have been infected when a dying man touched the womb of his pregnant mother, and now it's like everyone thinks if they can get near him some of his grace will rub off on them.
He has a police escort when he goes out training because if not he soon finds himself in a peloton of Tour de France proportions. Everywhere he went at the Oro y Paz – from the hotel to the bus, from the bus to sign-on, from the finish line to the bus – he was mobbed. Even the security officials tasked with ploughing through the crowds were taking selfies – they were just first in line.
A united family
The brother in the back
A breakthrough
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/dayer-quintana-a-glimmer-from-the-shadows-in-colombia-oro-y-paz
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