Nairo Quintana, new leader of the Vuelta a Catalunya: “I am very excited a decade later to return to the podium”

Nairo Quintana left his skin in stage 4 of the Vuelta a Catalunya 2022, finishing second behind Portuguese Joao Almeida where he also fought against compatriot Sergio Higuita who came third after an incessant dispute with Nairo.

The two Colombians were among the favorite men to take the stage and given their positions in the standings, take the overall lead at the end of the day. Although the former did not happen the latter did, because Quintana puts on the shirt of the leader of the general standings, beating his two closest rivals by just 6 seconds.

Nairo and his team were focused throughout the race trying to get the Colombian out of risks, positioning him inside the pack and protecting him so that at the end he would finish the stage with the best possible sensations.

“In the you to you, we all arrive with more or less the same force. It's a shame that I couldn't win the stage, yesterday at La Molina I was third”, said Nairo.

The Boyacense has had a more than good season, because in addition to showing a great sporting level, he was enough to win the title of the Tour of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Tour de la Provence both in France. While in a fight side by side with three-time Vuelta España champion Primoz Roglic, he managed to win third place overall in Paris Nice.

The leading coffee grower of Arkea Samsic expressed his feelings after the great work he has done together with the Breton squad this Thursday in the queen stage, saying:

“I'm excited. 11 years ago, I played my first Volta fighting for the mountain jersey, and I am very excited a decade later to return to the podium,” he said at the end of the competition and at a press conference.

Quintana had achieved mountain qualification in the Catalan round when she was part of the Colombian team Colombia es Pasión in 2011. At that time he fought that classification with the Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk. However, Nairo already has a Vuelta a Catalunya in 2016 when he played in the colors of the Movistar Team, a team with which he also won the Giro d'Italia in 2014 and the Vuelta España in 2016.

The now leader of the competition still has the great challenge of enduring the attacks that may occur in the coming days by his rivals, including Higuita, who is very encouraged to give everything for victory.

The good time that Quintana is experiencing at the beginning of the season is a respite from the different difficult situations that he has had to go through in recent years in terms of health, as he has had some accidents that did not allow him to appear in the different races he attended, including the Tour de France.

Faced with this, Nairo recalled the bad times and commented emotionally: “I had injuries in previous years and it was not good for me. Sometimes you have to fight and cry in silence. No one knows what sorrows others carry. I know who I am and what I have, and with this motivation we permeate our team”, he concluded.

The fifth stage will be run on Friday between La Pobla de Segur and Vilanova i la Geltrú on a 206-kilometer route over relatively mountainous terrain, but with only one 3rd category port. Nairo must be attentive to the movements of his rivals, but also not to fall in the middle of the race tension.

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