Nairo Quintana: “We'll see how we will defend the lead” in the 2022 return to Catalonia

Nairo Quintana, after 6 years of winning the general in the Catalan round, is back with the same intention of 2016: to win the competition title. After the queen stage that took place on Thursday allowed him to enter second place behind Portuguese Joao Almeida, the boyacense assumes the top of the standings.

“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 the Colombian once he finished stage 4.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done in order to get the best result, as his main rivals still follow him closely, which puts Nairo's intentions and objectives at risk. That is why the coffee grower clearly says before the start of this Friday's stage:

Thus, given the characteristics that are available for the next stages, the task is not at all easy for the Arkea Samsic team, where we must remember that Winner Anacona and Miguel Flórez are also present as Nairo's squires, especially in the high mountains.

For this Friday the day will be quite long, as 206 km of route is expected with a single mountain pass of the 3rd category, but with a route that will have many slopes and will be definitive for the day's auction.

Nairo must be attentive to the attacks of his rivals, but also to be careful in several areas where the high tension of competition could lead to drops or cuts in the larger batch. Of course every day is a different competition, so the escapes will also be monitored so that there are no surprises from other riders who want to get on the podium.

On the other hand, the Antioquian rider Sergio Higuita of Bora Hansgrohe, is also in the fight for the top of the general standings, as he is only 6 seconds behind his compatriot and Joao Almeida of the UAE Team Emirates who shares the same time with Nairo in the standings.

The Arkea Samsic team is very confident in the experience and good conditions of its leading rider, as at the start of the season it proved to be at its best level by winning the Tour de la Provence and the Tour of the Alpes-Maritimes in France, in addition to side by side with Slovenian Primoz Roglic he finished 5th at the end of the Paris Nice in where the european won.

We will see from now until Sunday when the competition reaches Barcelona and finally Nairo Quintana wins a new title in the general standings of the Catalan round of which 11 years ago he had won the mountain shirt when he belonged to Colombia es Pasión.

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