Nairo Quintana is officially the leader of the Movistar Team

Nairo Quintana was officially presented as a Movistar Team rider. After four long years, the boyacense returned to his “home” and was part of the presentation of the Spanish team for the next season, in which he will share a team with his compatriots Einer Rubio and Fernando Gaviria.

Nairo Quintana’s excitement about returning to competition has been evident since the news was confirmed. His prolonged absence, derived from his disqualification in the 2022 Tour de France, after confirming the presence of tramadol in blood samples, led him to have enormous difficulty finding a team and kept him away from official competitions for more than a year. and a half.

Now, Nairo is back, and the Movistar Team managers are happy and have enormous expectations of what his return to the road will be like. During the presentation, the 33-year-old cyclist, as well as the team’s directors, had the opportunity to share what his calendar for 2024 will be and, as expected, his participation in the Tour de France was declined.
You may be interested: Rigoberto Urán, Nairo Quintana and Egan Bernal, confirmed that they will be in the Tour Colombia

Eusebio Unzué, director of the Spanish squad, made official the news that the man from Boyacá will be the leader of the team in the Giro d’Italia:

“We come from the Calpe concentration, 12 days before the presentation and there we have finished a little to specify the calendars for practically the entire team. We have already made it a little clear that Nairo (Quintana) will lead the team, he will be our leader together with Einer (Rubio) in the Giro d’Italia; “Enric (Mas) will lead the team in the Tour and both will also be in the Vuelta a España.”

Before the official presentation, the Colombian rider held a talk with the official media of the Movistar Team and there he commented: “I will start in the Tour Colombia, possibly before in the Colombian Cycling Nationals and from there I will return to European lands to begin the calendar with Vuelta a Catalunya and among others, the Basque Country.”

The Colombian cyclist went through one of the hardest moments of his career because he could not find a team to ride; However, thanks to his persistence and pride he was able to return to the team with which he obtained the most important victories as a professional. Quintana took advantage of the space and thanked all his fans who have supported him from the first moment and have been there in the most difficult moments.

“They have pushed me a lot, especially the Colombians. I want to say that from many parts of the world that have helped and pushed me, they have given me that encouragement to continue and here we are again, to enjoy, to give as a team a lot of joy to all the fans of the Movistar team.”

It is important to note that for the Tour de France, the rider who will stand out as the leader of the squad will be the Spanish Enric Mas, who aims to achieve a privileged position in the general classification. As for the Vuelta a España, both the European rider and Nairo Quintana will be present, marking the only occasion in which they will coincide in a grand tour. With Infobae

Related