In professional cycling, two years is an eternity – especially when your name is Nairo Quintana.
The glory days began with a runner-up spot at the 2013 Tour de France, followed by a Giro d’Italia title the following season, another second place at the 2015 Tour, and victory at the 2016 Vuelta a España. Yet, they now seem so long ago that, despite being only 29, everyone seems to be questioning if the Movistar rider's best days are over.
It has become apparent that racing the Giro d'Italia before the Tour de France isn't ideal for the little Colombian. In fact, his best Tours have seen him do the Tour de Romandie followed by the Route d’Occitanie – formerly the Route du Sud – in the preparation period, but these last couple of seasons Movistar have deviated from that formula and it hasn't worked out very well at all.
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They've experimented with more than 40 days of racing in 2017, and fewer than 30 days in 2018, and still Quintana has lacked sparkle in July. His victory on the short-but-intense Pyrenean stage last year saved a bit of face, but eighth overall certainly wasn't the performance the team were looking for.
When they turned up at the start with three protected riders, of which Quintana was the number-one choice, it smacked of more stars than helpers in the team. Already, that decision of having more than one named leader is a deviation from the norm, but the Spanish squad seem to be continuing with the idea even this year, despite its ambiguity, because Mikel Landa shares the burden of being involved in the fight for the GC. Quite how the Spaniard will manage that, when he loses time at the beginning of every Grand Tour and then spends the rest of the race trying to recover the situation, beats me, but that's what's been decided.
As for Quintana, the very thing you could rely on him for – namely to be in the front probing and asking questions of the other favourites when the big mountains appear – has been sorely missing from his game these last few seasons. In its place are weary performances that see him in the front group but being subject to what his rivals are doing rather than doing any of the dictating or decision-making.
Quintana's 2019 race programme
- Vuelta a San Juan (January 27-February 2): 8th
- Tour Colombia (February 12-17): 5th, with 1 stage win
- Paris-Nice (March 10-18): 2nd
- Volta a Catalunya (March 25-31): 4th
- GP Miguel Indurain (April 6): 42nd
- Critérium du Dauphiné (June 9-16): 9th
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/philippa-york-the-fun-and-panache-seem-to-be-missing-from-nairo-quintana
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