Nairo Quintana thankful for 'easier' Tour de France first week

No cobbles and a mountain stage in the first week leaves Nairo Quintana happy with the Tour de France route, but he wishes there was a team time trial included

Nairo Quintana before Stage 13 of the 2015 Vuelta Espana (Watson)

(Image credit: Watson)

Nairo Quintana breathed a sigh of relief when ASO presented its 2016 Tour de France yesterday without a time trial and pavé in the opening week.

Movistar's captain survived the pavé stage to Cambrai this year, but in a wind-swept stage two, he lost a precious 1-28 minutes when caught behind a crash along the Dutch coast to Zeeland.

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Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.