Quintana: I'll never surrender at the Tour de France
Nairo Quintana's rollercoaster relationship with the Tour de France took another dramatic turn on stage 18 with the Colombian bouncing back after a disappointing two weeks to win the first stage in the Alps and jump from 12 to seventh on GC in the process.
The former Vuelta a Espana and Giro d’Italia winner has flattered to deceive in the Tour de France ever since a string of three podium places between 2013 and 2016, while the last few years have seen the 29-year-old’s Tour hopes flicker between the mercurial to the mediocre in comparison to those early years of promise. But on stage 18 to Valloire the pint-sized climber provided another timely reminder of both his undoubted class and ultimate underachievement that seems to follow him at the biggest race of all.
He escaped as part of a 33-strong group early in the stage and was ever-present as the break thinned out on the Col d’Izoard and the Galibier. With 26km to go the Colombian took off and quickly distanced a group that contained just Romain Bardet and Alexey Lutsenko and when the gap quickly expanded beyond 30 seconds the stage win never looked in doubt.
"This win reflects the amount of work I've put in to be ready for this type of performance," he said at the finish.
"It was a really grand day for me, and it was within the team strategy. We wanted to put ourselves in the right position for winning the stage and for Mikel Landa to improve his GC position. So it's a fantastic day for me, my family and for the team, for my teammates, and for the country."
Quintana and his Movistar team have never appeared to sing from the same hymn sheet at the Tour de France. It’s a similar scenario to 2018 when the team arrived with a three-pronged attack that was quickly dented in the mountains before Quintana eventually helped paper over the cracks with a stage. At times, in this year's race, it has looked as though the Spanish squad has tried their best to replicate last year’s blueprint with questionable tactics at several key points. They have remained in contention and relevant simply because they have one of the strongest squads but the fact that Quintana now sits above Landa in GC will raise questions over the team’s tactics for the rest of the race.
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