Nairo Quintana: A rising Colombian cycling star

Last year, the Colombian made his international breakthrough at the Tour de France with the ratings, second overall, best young professional and winner of the mountain classification. This year, as one of the top seeded favorites, he managed to silence the last doubters by winning the Giro d'Italia. What can we expect from him in the future?

by Bruno Fleckenstein

At just 24 years old, this mountain specialist from Colombia already has a lot behind him, but certainly still has a lot ahead of him in terms of his racing career. He made his first public appearance in 2009 when he became the Colombian U23 individual time trial champion at the age of 19. The 2010 Tour de l'Avenir was another milestone in what is slowly becoming a successful professional career.

With the move to the Movistar team in 2012, his other international successes also climbed. In 2013 he was very successful at the Tour de France under his then captain Alejandro Valverde. Then in 2014, Movistar team manager Unzue took him out of the Tour de France to give him more time to continue building his career. He promptly thanked him by winning the 2014 Giro d'Italia.

Performance strength based on origin
The story goes that he came from a farming family and grew up in modest circumstances in Combita, about 160 kilometers northeast of the capital Bogota. Due to his financial situation, his parents were unable to pay for the school bus, and Nairo had to ride a bicycle weighing about 20 kilograms over 23 kilometers to school in Arcabuco every day. Now Arcabuco is located 2,575 meters above sea level, while Combita is located at 2,825 meters above sea level. This means for a child or teenager that he had to overcome a long arduous way home with steep inclines, which gave his leg muscles a good workout. And this not only once, but every day. This was also a strong training mentally, which certainly helps him today in his professional career. You have to remember that when he was a kid he couldn't get off his bike, he had to keep going to get home, there was no alternative, he had to push through.

In addition, we already know from athletics that people who had to perform well in everyday life because of their background are often among the top athletes in sports. And another finding is that those who are trained to perform at their best in the thin, oxygen-poor air at higher altitudes have a performance advantage over other athletes who are not familiar with such conditions.

So the origin may sound fateful and sad, but it has prepared him perfectly for this sport, as if it were his destiny to be a road cyclist.

Crafty tactician or just lucky in sports?
In 2012 he participated in the Giro d'Italia and finished 32nd in the 13th stage. A year later, this was one of his worse results and he finished in the top twenty in several stages. His best result was the 13th place in the 9th stage and after that came the participation in the Tour de France,in which he shone....