How will the years of Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana be remembered? The pair shared the Tour de France podium three times between 2013 and 2016, the former the top step, the latter second or third. There was a time when Quintana seemed the most likely to break the Team Sky hegemony, with his surge up Alpe d’Huez in 2015 putting a second Froome yellow jersey in peril. Froome was seen as one of the greatest ever, somewhat justifiably.

A decade on, that feels very distant. The Tadej Pogačar era has shifted the goalposts for what the best bike rider in the world can be, while Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard, to name but two, seem like much more complete cyclists than Froome and Quintana ever were. The pair won nine Grand Tours between them, and Froome was the last rider to win all three Grand Tours, and held all three titles at once, something beyond the current greats.

However, it is four years since Quintana won a bike race, six since winning a WorldTour event. The last time Froome stood on the top step of a podium it was the 2018 Giro d’Italia, and the idea of a global pandemic was the stuff of horror films. Both are technically still active riders, the Colombian at Movistar, the Briton without a team but not officially retired; he is still in the registered testing pool for cyclists.

It was coincidence this week that the pair both updated us on their work plans, but it is interesting that the two, once inextricably linked, are still somehow cosmically tied to each other. Quintana is to retire at the end of the season, while Froome has a new job as chief innovation officer at Vekta, an AI training platform.

What connects the two, other than being at the top of the general classification tree in 2013-2016, my formative years as a cycling fan, are that they’re still, just about, going. A friend of mine had no idea Quintana was still cycling, but he did 64 race days last year, 70 the year before. Froome has been a bit more of an obvious presence in cycling, but it wouldn’t be outrageous for one to assume he has been retired for a while now, which is not the case.

The fact they have continued for so long has gone some way to diminishing their legacies. Froome is no longer the man who went on an epic solo raid at the 2018 Giro d’Italia to younger fans, but the man who finished just inside the top 100 overall at the Tour de Suisse last year. Quintana hasn’t been quite so anonymous in results, and surely has been playing a role at Movistar bringing the next generation through, but also hasn’t been pulling up any trees.

I wonder what the motivation was in keeping going, in still not quite giving up the dream even, in Froome’s case. Of course, there has been remuneration from the years of racing, a significant amount in the case of the Briton, but I also sense a desire to just keep racing. Neither knows much beyond the world of professional cycling, life on the road, or feeling part of a team. Quintana took a year out of the sport after his tramadol-based disqualification from the Tour in 2022, and still came back. Cycling must mean a lot to him.

How their era of cycling will be remembered is a separate question. While there have been some labelling these years of Pogačar domination boring, the dynamic racing and attacking feel keenly juxtaposed with the seasons of the Team Sky-train, and a stony-faced Quintana plugging away. I don’t find myself yearning for the 2013 Tour to return, I don’t know about you. This of course is neither the fault of Froome or Quintana, who were working to make the best of their abilities, to create a legacy. How that sits in history is still very much a live question.

The news of Froome’s next step is the most-read story on our site this week, the news of Quintana’s retirement, the most-read on Cyclingnews. Perhaps all it needs is a few years and we will think fondly of the 2010s, the battle between the young Movistar rider and the awkward-pedalling Sky leader, I’m just not sure that is now.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

Nairo Quintana has revealed that 2026 will be his final year of professional cycling, after a 16 year-long career.

The Movistar rider announced the news in a press conference ahead of the Volta a Catalunya on Sunday evening, the same race where the Colombian first showcased his dominance in the mountains in 2011.

“I want to say: it is over,” the 36-year-old said in Barcelona. “It is all over. And I am going home to my family."

"I am that boy who grew up amidst the mountains, in a place where life was anything but passive,” he continued. “I was just a kid who didn't have much, but I possessed something far stronger: the burning desire to break free.

"I learned that this wasn't just a sport. It was a way of life; lived step by step, without rushing the process. Then, in 2012, a new chapter began. From that point on - race after race, victory after victory - my triumphs were not mine alone; they belonged to an entire continent. They belonged to the Colombian land, to every life, every climb, and every finish line crossed.”

Quintana’s breakthrough performance came at the Volta a Catalunya, as the rider took the mountains title with the Colombia es Pasión squad. His form continued with a Queen Stage win at the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2012 in a race that marked the Movistar rider as a serious challenger to the dominance of Team Sky.

A stage win at the 2013 Tour de France only confirmed his talent, triumphing at Le Semnoz as he finished second overall. A year later, Quintana won the Giro d’Italia, a Grand Tour performance matched by an overall win at the Vuelta a España in 2016.

After a flurry of victories with the French team Arkéa-Samsic, he tested positive for Tramadol at the 2022 Tour, and was disqualified post-race. A year-long hiatus from cycling came as a result.

His return to racing came in 2023, with his old team Movistar. This time Quintana was a team rider, shining briefly in the Dolomites in the 2024 Giro d’Italia, only to be overtaken by Tadej Pogačar just before the line.

"These were moments of constant growth,” Quintana said of his career, “a journey that allowed me to mature both as an athlete and as a human being. It was a wonderful chapter, filled with learning, respect, and immense gratitude."

Not only is Quintana one of Colombia’s greatest riders, he has campaigned for human rights alongside his career as a cyclist, work he will continue into his retirement.

"I am not speaking of a farewell; I am speaking of a beginning," Quintana said, "a new beginning where I want to continue building, creating businesses, opening up opportunities, supporting both competitive and recreational sports, and giving back to the people - especially the youth - everything that cycling has given me."

This year’s Vuelta a España will be the Colombian's final race.

The 79th edition of the Vuelta a España begins this Saturday, and all the teams have announced their lineups for the Grand Tour ahead of the big day.

Three-time champion Primož Roglič has successfully recovered from injury in order to race his second three-week race for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and will surely go in as the favourite. He will be joined by Aleksandr Vlasov, who also crashed out of the Tour de France, along with Dani Martínez, in a strong team.

Roglič is the favourite, but the race is also wide open. Defending champion Sepp Kuss will race for Visma-Lease a Bike, alongside Wout van Aert, making his debut in Spain, and Cian Uijtdebroeks.

A strong UAE Team Emirates squad is due to be led by João Almeida and Adam Yates, but they are joined by a team full of GC contenders, with Marc Soler, Isaac Del Toro, Pavel Sivakov and Brandon McNulty all there too.

Ineos Grenadiers will be spearheaded by Carlos Rodríguez and Thymen Arensman, who will both be aiming for the podium at least, with Josh Tarling riding a Grand Tour for the first time. 

Tao Geoghegan Hart will ride his first Grand Tour for Lidl-Trek, after he was ruled out of the Tour de France with Covid. He will be joined by Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose in a strong lineup from the American team.

EF Education-EasyPost are to be led by Richard Carapaz, winner of the mountains classification and an Alpine stage at the Tour, supported ably by Rigoberto Urán.

Mikel Landa, recently third at the Tour, will lead Soudal Quick-Step, while Kaden Groves, the winner of the points competition at last year's Vuelta, returns for Alpecin-Deceuninck.

Meanwhile, Nairo Quintana will return to the Vuelta, a race he won in 2016, for the first time since 2019. The Movistar squad also includes perennial podium hopeful Enric Mas. 

The 2024 race begins on Saturday 17 August in Lisbon, Portugal and finishes in Madrid, Spain, just over three weeks later on 8 September.

Eight men are allowed in each squad, with a mix of climbers, sprinters, general classification hopefuls and domestiques. All 18 WorldTour teams will be present, alongside ProTeams Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto Dstny, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Equipo Kern Pharma.

Below are the confirmed squads for the race. We will update this page with more riders as teams are announced.

Vuelta a España 2024 start list

Alpecin-Deceuninck
PLANCKAERT Edward
VERGALLITO Luca
BALLERSTEDT Maurice
GROVES Kaden
HERMANS Quinten
HOLLMANN Juri
MEURISSE Xandro
RIESEBEEK Oscar

Arkéa-B&B Hotels
GESBERT Élie
GUERNALEC Thibault
GUGLIELMI Simon
HUYS Laurens
LE BERRE Mathis
OWSIAN Łukasz
RODRÍGUEZ Cristián
RIES Michel

Astana Qazaqstan
FORTUNATO Lorenzo
BRUSSENSKIY Gleb
GAROFOLI Gianmarco
SCHELLING Ide
TEJADA Harold
UMBA Santiago
VINOKUROV Nicolas
LÓPEZ Harold Martín

Bahrain Victorious
TIBERI Antonio
CARUSO Damiano
GRADEK Kamil
HAIG Jack
KEPPLINGER Rainer
MIHOLJEVIĆ Fran
SÜTTERLIN Jasha
TRÆEN Torstein

Cofidis
MARTIN Guillaume
HERRADA Jesús
LASTRA Jonathan
FERNÁNDEZ Rubén
COQUARD Bryan
ELISSONDE Kenny
IZAGIRRE Ion
CHAMPION Thomas

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
PARET-PEINTRE Valentin
ARMIRAIL Bruno
BOUCHARD Geoffrey
GALL Felix
LAFAY Victor
BERTHET Clément
DE PESTEL Sander
O'CONNOR Ben

dsm-firmenich PostNL
POOLE Max
BITTNER Pavel
HAMILTON Chris
LEEMREIZE Gijs
LEIJNSE Enzo
NABERMAN Tim
TUSVELD Martijn
VAN DEN BERG Julius

EF Education-EasyPost
CARAPAZ Richard
URÁN Rigoberto
CEPEDA Jefferson Alexander
COSTA Rui
DOULL Owain
RAFFERTY Darren
SHAW James
SWEENY Harry

Equipo Kern Pharma
CASTRILLO Pablo
MIQUEL Pau
BERRADE Urko
GUTIÉRREZ Jorge
IRIBAR Unai
PARRA José Félix
RUIZ Ibon
SOTO Antonio Jesús

Euskaltel-Euskadi
ABERASTURI Jon
BERASATEGI Xabier
BIZKARRA Mikel
BOU Joan
JUARISTI Txomin
MARTÍN Gotzon
MATÉ Luis Ángel
ISASA Xabier*

Groupama-FDJ
GAUDU David
BYSTRØM Sven Erik
GENIETS Kevin
GERMANI Lorenzo
KÜNG Stefan
PACHER Quentin
ROCHAS Rémy
THOMPSON Reuben

Ineos Grenadiers
ARENSMAN Thymen
HEIDUK Kim
NARVÁEZ Jhonatan
RIVERA Brandon Smith
RODRÍGUEZ Óscar
DE PLUS Laurens
TARLING Joshua
RODRÍGUEZ Carlos

Intermarché-Wanty
MARIT Arne
GOOSSENS Kobe
MEINTJES Louis
PAQUOT Tom
PETILLI Simone
ROTA Lorenzo
TAARAMÄE Rein
BRAET Vito

Israel-Premier Tech
RICCITELLO Matthew
TEUNS Dylan
BENNETT George
FRIGO Marco
WOODS Michael
RAISBERG Nadav
SHEEHAN Riley
STRONG Corbin

Jayco AlUla
SCHMID Mauro
DE MARCHI Alessandro
ENGELHARDT Felix
ZANA Filippo
BERHE Welay Hagos
DUNBAR Eddie
SCOTSON Callum
HARPER Chris

Lidl-Trek
CICCONE Giulio
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
KONRAD Patrick
OOMEN Sam
SKJELMOSE Mattias
VACEK Mathias
VERGAERDE Otto
VERONA Carlos

Lotto Dstny
DE GENDT Thomas
VAN EETVELT Lennert
KRON Andreas
LIVYNS Arjen
SEPÚLVEDA Eduardo
GREGAARD Jonas
CAMPENAERTS Victor
MONIQUET Sylvain

Movistar
MAS Enric
QUINTANA Nairo
SÁNCHEZ Pelayo
RUBIO Einer
LAZKANO Oier
CANAL Carlos
ARCAS Jorge
OLIVEIRA Nelson

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
ADRIÀ Roger
ALEOTTI Giovanni
DENZ Nico
GAMPER Patrick
LIPOWITZ Florian
MARTÍNEZ Daniel Felipe
ROGLIČ Primož
VLASOV Aleksandr

Soudal Quick-Step
LANDA Mikel
LECERF William Junior
PEDERSEN Casper
ASGREEN Kasper
CATTANEO Mattia
VANSEVENANT Mauri
VERVAEKE Louis
KNOX James

UAE Team Emirates
SOLER Marc
ALMEIDA João
YATES Adam
DEL TORO Isaac
SIVAKOV Pavel
BARONCINI Filippo
VINE Jay
MCNULTY Brandon

Visma-Lease a Bike
KUSS Sepp
VAN AERT Wout
GESINK Robert
KRUIJSWIJK Steven
AFFINI Edoardo
VALTER Attila
VAN BAARLE Dylan
UIJTDEBROEKS Cian

Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) bounced back to winning form as he triumphed from a slow-motion uphill sprint on day three of the Tour de Suisse. 

The 21-year-old Belgian, son of cyclo-cross great Sven Nys, held off Stevie Williams (Israel Premier Tech) at the line in Rüschlikon, claiming his sixth victory of the season. 

After the stage, the Lidl-Trek rider sat on a plastic chair behind the podium, sobbing proudly with his head in his hands.

"It's unbelievable. I cannot put into words how this feels and what it means to me," Nys said, red-eyed. "It's so nice to show the good form of the last few weeks. I've been dreaming about this stage for a long time already." 

Last Friday, a crash in the final sprint at the one-day GP Gippingen left Nys frustrated and seeking revenge.  

"I was so disappointed after the crash in Gippingen and it was difficult to get over it because I knew I was close to winning there," he said. "From the race to the hotel, we did the recon of this stage, and I tried to put my mind in the right direction, and it all worked out. 

"Yesterday I was struggling a lot, today as well I was not feeling good on the bike," he added. "But the guys pulled me through it and I started to believe in it. It all worked out." 

There was a change at the top of the general classification as Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), third on the stage, took over the race lead from Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step).

How it happened

Although labelled as "flat" in the race guide, stage three of the Tour de Suisse counted three categorised climbs and almost 2,000m of elevation en route to Rüschlikon.  

The day began with news of Nairo Quintana's (Movistar) withdrawal, the Colombian revealed to have fractured his wrist in a crash on stage two. 

From the flag drop, a five-rider breakaway, made up mostly of local Swiss riders, sailed clear up the road. Among them was Johan Jacobs (Movistar), whose childhood cycling club was based in the day's start town of Steinmaur. Riding with boyish spirit, the 27-year-old chose to ditch his compatriots with 31km to go, launching a solo attack. 

Alone, Jacobs picked up points in the mountains and sprint classifications. He used his time on screen to pay homage to Gino Mäder – who tragically died at the race last year – pointing to his pink #RideForGino wristband when the camera panned in on him. 

Jacobs was caught by the peloton with 18km to go, on the penultimate categorised climb. With the final summit then in sight, bids for the stage win started to multiply. Brandon Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers) attacked first, followed by recent Giro d’Italia stage winner Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates). No move, however, was stinging enough to last. 

On the descent, Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) briefly gapped the pack, then sat up to deal with a minor bike issue. Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) then animated a short incline with 3km to go, dodging an errant dog walker, but was unable to hold off the reducing bunch behind him.

In the end, it came down to a sprint on the drag to the line, and the honours went to Nys. 

Results

Tour de Suisse 2024, stage three: Steinmaur > Rüschlikon (161.7km)

1. Thibau Nys (Bel) Lidl-Trek, in 3:27:31
2. Stephen Williams (GBr) Israel-Premier Tech
3. Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost)
4. Roger Adrià (Esp) Bora-Hansgrohe
5. Paul Lapeira (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
6. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
7. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, all at same time
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +3s
9. Ben Tulett (GBr) Visma-Lease a Bike
10. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, both at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-EasyPost, in 7:39:20
2. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, +6s
3. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
4. Stephen Williams (GBr) Israel-Premier Tech, both at same time
5. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +9s
6. Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
7. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, both at same time
8. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, +10s
9. Jan Christen (Sui) UAE Team Emirates, +11s
10. Roger Adrià (Esp) Bora-Hansgrohe, +13s

Tadej Pogačar’s incredible stage winning ride to Livigno on stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia was flagged on Strava, before being reinstated.

The Slovenian is currently leading the Italian Grand Tour after building an almost unassailable advantage in the general classification by winning the race’s Queen stage. 

Stage 15 included more than 5,400 metres of elevation gain and an ascent of the infamous Mortirolo pass. 

Pogačar now has almost seven minutes on Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) who is in second place. 

Posting his winning ride on Strava, Pogačar said that someone had flagged him on the exercise tracking app. 

"Who TF flagged me," the race leader wrote, alongside a caption containing a series of emojis celebrating his sensational victory in the high mountains.

Being flagged on Strava usually means that an activity has been highlighted as being potentially questionable by another user of the app, although this occassion was probably an attempt at a joke. Flagged activities do not appear on segment leaderboards unless an athlete decides to follow Strava’s process for resolving the flagged entry. 

Last week, Strava announced that AI would be used to automatically flag dubious rides in the future.

It is not the first time the Slovenian has been flagged on Strava; it also happened to his race-winning ride at the Tour of Flanders last year, when he bagged a handful of KOMs, including the paired segment of the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg. That too was reinstated.

On Sunday, Pogačar made his winning attack 14 kilometres from the finish when he went solo from the select GC group on the road and set off in pursuit of a handful of breakaway riders. The Slovenian eventually caught and passed the likes of Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost). 

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was up ahead leading the race and had approximately three minutes on the next group on the road. However, the Colombian’s advantage was soon decimated by Pogačar who caught and passed the former Giro winner with ease before going on to win the stage. 

Speaking afterwards, the race leader said his team had been targeting victory on this stage since last winter. 

"The team did a super-good job," Pogačar said. "We had this stage in mind since, I don't know, December or whatever. 

"I'm super happy that we kept it under control. It was a really strong breakaway, but I gave it all in the last 10km or so, 15km. I'm super happy that I could win a queen stage in Livigno, one of my favourite places in Italy."

During Monday's rest day press conference, Pogačar joked that being flagged on Strava is a regular occurrence for him. 

"It happens a lot," he said. "It's a funny moment but it's good that people can see how fast we actually go on some of these iconic climbs. I got a lot of kudos too and a lot of comments so it was a great post yesterday." 

The race resumes in the Italian Alps on Tuesday.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) dealt a knockout blow to his GC rivals at the Giro d'Italia on Sunday, soloing to victory on the queen stage in Livigno. 

The Slovenian attacked with 14km to go on the final climb on stage 15, a day that counted 5,400m elevation, and ended after over six hours of racing. 

Across the line, Pogačar's advantage was jaw-dropping – almost three minutes to his fellow GC rivals, who scrapped for seconds behind. 

"Today was one of the best days for me – not the whole day, I would not say the best day of my career, but it was a really nice stage, a really good route, nice climbs," he said afterwards.

The victory marked the UAE Team Emirates rider's fourth on debut at the Italian Grand Tour, and his most resounding. His winning margin meant he doubled his lead over Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), who went into the stage 3-41 down, and now trails by 6-41. 

"The team did a super-good job," Pogačar continued. "We had this stage in mind since, I don't know, December or whatever. I'm super-happy that we kept it under control. It was a really strong breakaway, but I gave it all in the last 10km or so, 15km. I'm super-happy that I could win a queen stage in Livigno, one of my favourite places in Italy."

Nairo Quintana (Movistar), winner of the pink jersey in 2014, finished second to Pogačar, having led the race solo from the breakaway. 

Speaking about the day's runner-up, Pogačar recalled memories of watching the Colombian a decade ago. "I was watching the time when [Chris] Froomey and Quintana were attacking each other, but always attacking too close to the finish. I was really angry with Quintana, he was not trying to go from distance," he smiled.

"Today, he did a super-good job, actually. He did an amazingly good ride. Also [Georg] Steinhauser [of EF Education-EasyPost], third place for him, I think this was a brilliant ride as well. A few honourable mentions today for sure.”  

Pogačar now heads into the second rest day with a lead of almost seven minutes over Thomas and Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe). With just a week to go until the race concludes, it's a lead that is likely to be unassailable. 

How it happened

At the stage start in Manerba del Garda, the melody of 'The Final Countdown' rung out among the riders, played by a spectator with an air horn. 

It was a daunting tune, but an apt one ahead of a leg-sapping day out through the mountains. Over the next 222km, the riders would climb 5,400m – more than half the height of Mount Everest – to a summit finish in Livigno. 

An early breakaway formed, made up of 12 riders including Brits Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) and Harrison Wood (Cofidis). On the opening categorised ramps, the escapees were caught by a mega chasing group, around 50 riders in size, and the front group swelled.

The first mountains test came on the mythic Passo del Mortirolo, which began with 79km to go. Little action came on the climb, before the front pack strung out on the descent, leaving 18 riders out front. Among them, were mountain goats Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), the best placed escapee on GC at nine minutes down. 

At the foot of the final climb, the Passo di Foscagno, Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) gritted his teeth and sailed clear of his breakaway companions. Storer and Quintana set out in pursuit, with the Colombian then tapping out a rhythm to set himself solo. 

Quintana's advantage sat at around three minutes, a healthy lead on a normal day, but not for what was about to happen. 

With 14km to go, Rafał Majka (UAE Team Emirates) peeled off the front of the GC group, making way for Pogačar to writhe violently up the road. Immediately, the bike lengths stretched out, and before long, the Slovenian was whipping past the stragglers from the early breakaway. 

Under the 2km to go banner, Pogačar made the catch to Quintana, but did not let up. No, he stomped ahead, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, to prevail alone on the 19% gradients of the stage's finale. 

Quintana crawled home 29 seconds later, with rest of the GC group three minutes in arrears.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2024, stage 15: Manerba del Garda > Livigno (222km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 6-11-43
2. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +29s
3. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost, +2-32
4. Romain Bardet (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +2-47
5. Dani Martínez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, +2-50
6. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
7. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, +2-58
8. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, at same time
9. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +3-05
10. Jan Hirt (Cze) Soudal Quick-Step, +3-20

General classification after stage 15

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 56:11:46
2. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, +6-41
3. Daniel Martinez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, +6-56
4. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, +7-43
5. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) bahrain Victorious, +9-27
6. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +9-45
7. Romain Bardet (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +10-49
8. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco-AIUla, +11-11
9. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, +12-13
10. Jan Hirt (Cze) Soudal Quick-Step, +13-11

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) added a third victory to his Giro d'Italia tally, triumphing atop the Prati di Tivo on stage eight, just 24 hours after winning the individual time trial. 

The race leader was the fastest in a mountaintop bunch sprint, kicking ahead of his GC rivals with 200m to go. Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished second, tightening his grip on second place overall, with Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) crossing the line in third. 

With the bonus seconds accounted for, Pogačar gained four seconds on Martínez, and now leads the race by two minutes and 40 seconds. 

"I was not expecting it at all today," the Slovenian said of his victory afterwards. "As a team, we rode super-well from the beginning. We came with a good time gap on the last climb, and the team did a super-good job to the finish." 

From the gun, UAE Team Emirates refused to give the breakaway breathing space. "My team-mates wanted to go for the stage win as soon as we survived the first, long categorised climb," Pogačar said. "Mikkel [Bjerg] came back to the bunch, and he was all in for chasing the group in front.

"At the bottom [of the final climb], when I saw our guys were still good – Domen [Novak], Felix [Großschartner] and Rafał [Majka] – I was confident that we could win today."

In the final two kilometres, Pogačar latched easily onto attacks from Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), always with the stage win in mind. "I had it more or less under control," he said, "and Rafa helped me so much in the last couple of kilometres. It was super-good.”

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) finished fifth on the stage, in a group two seconds behind the front three. He is still in third, now 18 seconds down on Martínez. 

How it happened

Uphill from the flag drop, stage eight brought the first real mountains test for the Giro d'Italia peloton. The route was just 152km in length, but counted a total elevation of 3,850m, and the race's second summit finish. 

A chaotic start meant it took 53km for the breakaway to finally settle down. It was composed of 14 riders, notably Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL), the highest placed of the escapees in the general classification, five minutes and 23 seconds down. 

The front group was kept on a tight leash throughout the day. Whether it was Bardet’s alarming presence, or Pogačar's desire to win a third stage, UAE Team Emirates held the gap below two minutes at all times. By the time the breakaway reached the foot of the final climb, with 15km to go, their lead had been slashed to 36 seconds. 

There, on the Prati di Tivo, the 14-strong group began to flake away. Sensing its demise, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) launched a plucky attack, but was swallowed up with 4km to go, the last survivor of the early move. 

Majka then took up the charge for UAE Team Emirates. Pogačar's team had gradually whittled down the peloton to just the GC contenders, and the race leader patrolled the pack from the front. 

The minutes drew out as the summit approached, and still nobody attacked. Tiberi then drew first blood inside 2km to go, but Pogačar would not let him get away. The same applied to Arensman, whose move was also quashed by the pink jersey. 

500m from the line, Majka reappeared on the front, this time swapping duties from mountain domestique to lead-out man. The Polish rider steered Pogačar to the head of the pack, where he launched a stinging sprint, repeating his Prati di Tivo success from the 2021 Tirreno-Adriatico, and claiming a third win in eight days. 

"I hope it’s a relaxing day," Pogačar said afterwards, looking forward to Sunday's ninth stage. "There's going to still be some nerves. We need to be focused until the end of tomorrow, then I think it's a rest day, no? I cannot wait."

Results

Giro d'Italia 2024, stage eight: Spoleto > Prati di Tivo (152km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 4-02-16
2. Dani Martínez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe
3. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, both at same time
4. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +2s
5. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
6. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar
7. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time
8. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +11s
9. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +13s
10. Alex Baudin (Fra) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, +21s

General classification after stage eight

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 28:14:42
2. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, +2-40
3. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, +2-58
4. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +3-39
5. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4-02
6. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +4-23
7. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan, +5-15
8. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, +5-28
9. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +5-30
10. Jan Hirt (Cze) Soudal Quick-Step, +5-53

Hello, and welcome to our live blog of stage eight of the Giro d'Italia. 

Some stage yesterday, huh? If you missed it, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) tightened his grip on the race, and leads the general classification with an advantage of two minutes and 36 seconds heading into day eight. 

In store today is the first real mountains day, and the race's second summit finish, this time on the Prati di Tivo. Join me, Tom Davidson, for updates throughout the stage. If you'd like to get in touch, reach out to me on X - @t_davidson. 

Let's start by unpacking today's route. 

There's some serious climbing on the menu – the stage is 152km long, with a total elevation gain of 3,850m. 

The peloton will start climbing from the gun, before facing a category-two climb  after 20km. The next real test will be a punchy category-three, ahead of a summit finish – the category-one Prati di Tivo. It's not the steepest ascent, so expect fast climbing times in today's finale. 

The Prati di Tivo hasn't featured at the Giro d'Italia since 1975. In recent years, though, we have seen it hosting finales in other Italian stage races. 

The last rider to win on the climb's slopes was Alexey Lutsenko, doing so on stage three of the Giro d'Abruzzo last month. 

Perhaps more significantly, though, is that Tadej Pogačar is very familiar with the climb. He took victory on it at Tirreno-Adriatico in 2021, a race he went on to win overall. 

Here are some of the key times for today's stage, all in BST:  

Roll out: 11:30
Race start: 11:45
Expected finish: 16:00

If they're on a decent pace, the riders should hit the foot of the final climb around 15:20.

Since nobody asked, here's my prediction for the stage. 

I think it's going to be a day for the breakaway. Whenever there's a climbing day after an ITT, I always like to look at the previous day's results to see who, by my reckoning, 'was saving the legs'. 

I'm looking at riders like Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco AlUla) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), two seasoned climbers, who won't trouble the GC contenders. 

My pick for victory, though, is 20-year-old Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè). 

It's no surprise to learn that Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) is a non-starter today. The Frenchman was mummified in bandages during yesterday's time trial, after he crashed on stage five. 

The riders have just rolled out of Spoleto. We'll have 15 minutes of neutralised riding before the stage officially starts. 

Stage eight begins

152km to go: We're underway for another day's racing at the Giro d'Italia. I'm expecting a fierce battle for the breakaway here. 

151km to go: There's an EF Education-EasyPost rider off the front, and one off the back. Stefan De Bod attacked, while Mikkel Honoré crashed almost immediately after the flag drop.

150km to go: A group is trying to go clear, led by Mattia Bais (Polti-Kometa), but the peloton is patrolling the moves. 

148km to go: There's a mega group trying to break away now, probably more than 30 riders. There's no chance UAE Team Emirates will let this loose.  

147km to go: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) is being very active. Sensing the mega group is doomed, the Frenchman is trying to break away from the breakaway. 

145km to go: The race today started immediately onto an uncategorised climb, and it is laying waste to the peloton. A gruppetto has already formed, less than 7km into the day. 

144km to go: The peloton is back together. There are two riders with a small gap: Ewen Costiou (Arkéa B&B Hôtels) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost). 

139km to go: The gap to the leading duo is now 40 seconds to the breakaway. Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) is trying to bridge across, as is Martin Marcellusi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè).

134km to go: Marcellusi has joined the leading duo, making, you guessed it, a trio. 

132km to go: Riders keep shooting out of the peloton to try and get to the breakaway. There's a long categorised climb coming up – 16.3km in length – so things might calm down then.  

130km to go: If you're just tuning in, it's been a very busy start to today's Giro d'Italia stage. There's a group up the road, but there's a feeling that the breakaway hasn't yet been formally established. UAE Team Emirates are still reeling it in. 

129km to go: The leading trio is no more. We're back to having a mega group off the front. There's about 30 of them. Some of the key names include: Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL). 

It's a beautiful day in Italy. Let's hope, for Luke Plapp's sake, it doesn't rain. 

127km to go: Of the 30-odd riders in the breakaway, Bardet is the best placed on the GC. He trails Pogačar by five minutes and 23 seconds. 

The peloton is climbing for the next 12km. 

125km to go: Julian Alaphilippe is trying to drive a move off the front of the breakaway, again. He's got Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on his wheel.

120km to go: Here's a look at some of the riders currently in the breakaway. 

119km to go: Three riders have gone clear: Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Simon Geschke (Cofidis) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost). Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) is about to join them. 

They have almost 40 seconds on the rest of the breakaway, and over a minute on the peloton. 

115km to go: The front quartet are over the climb. They begin the descent with a 1-37 advantage over the peloton. 

110km to go: The race is split up. Between the front quartet and the peloton, there are three other groups. Alaphilippe and Quintana are among them. 

107km to go: The front group has received reinforcements on the descent. There's now eight of them:

- Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL)
- Simon Geschke (Cofidis)
- Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)
- Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost)
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step)
- Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)

99km to go: Six more riders join the front group. After 53km, our breakaway looks to be finally established. They have just under two minutes on the peloton. 

There are 14 in total. Here's who just joined: 

- Henok Mulubrhan (Astana Qazaqstan)
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
- Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar)
- Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco AlUla)
- Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling)
- Martin Marcellusi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè)

Here's some non-Giro news. Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost) was involved in a training incident yesterday that ended in his foot getting run over by a driver.

91km to go: The 14-rider breakaway has a gap of 1-45 on the peloton. I get the feeling that the bunch won't let then stray too far as long as Bardet is there, only 5-23 down on GC. 

81km to go: After a frenetic start, the riders are cruising now towards the second categorised climb. The gap to the peloton has remained steady, at around 1-40. 

73km to go: The gap has nudged out a little bit, now at 2-30. The breakaway will need a few more minutes if they want to last to the end. 

For those of you keeping track, Tadej Pogačar is back in all pink today. He wore maroon shorts yesterday in the time trial – a fashion choice that had previously rattled the UCI, who threatened to disqualify the race leader. 

64km to go: There's a bit of a lull in the racing ahead of the next climb – a category-three ascent, which starts in around 15km. 

57km to go: The gap's tumbling. It now stands at 1-20. 

48km to go: The average speed today is 39km/h. We're ahead of the race organiser's fastest planned schedule. 

45km to go: The breakaway's days look numbered. The 14 riders have an advantage of just over one minute now. Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) is trying to keep the dream alive, but it's fizzling out. 

39km to go: The front of the race crests the penultimate climb, with a gap of 1-29. 

They now face a 20km descent before the foot of the Prati di Tivo. 

As they descend, let's take a look at the final climb. The Prati di Tivo is 14.6km long at an average pitch of 7%. It should take the best riders around 36-38 minutes to climb to the top, where the finish line awaits. 

31km to go: There's very little to report on this descent. The gap is staying steady at 1-15, which will be swallowed up easily as soon as the peloton hits the final climb. 

20km to go: Just over 5km until the final climb, and the breakaway's advantage is under one minute. 

UAE Team Emirates are driving hard at the front of the peloton behind. 

15km to go: The breakaway hits the foot of the Prati di Tivo with a lead of 36 seconds. 

14km to go: The breakaway is falling away. Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) takes up the front, while Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco AlUla) drop out the back. 26 seconds now. 

12.5km to go: Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) attacks out of the breakaway. A real kamikaze move. 

11.5km to go: Five riders are reeling Verre back in. Bardet is leading the charge. 

11km to go: The gap to the leading six riders is now 23 seconds. Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates), the bulldozer on the front of the peloton, has them in his sights. 

10.5km to go: A surprising shift on the front of the peloton as Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) takes over from UAE. 

10km to go: Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) tries his luck now. Having spent the day up the road, he's gone on a flyer. 

8km to go: Paret-Peintre is alone now, the last survivor of the breakaway, with a 20-second advantage. 

The peloton group behind is thin – probably around 30 riders – made up of the main GC contenders, a few of their team-mates, and the hangers-on from the breakaway. 

7.5km to go: UAE Team Emirates reclaim their role pulling in the bunch. 

7km to go: Tadej Pogačar has two team-mates in the chasing group: Rafał Majka and Felix Großschartner. 

6km to go: Chapeau to Paret-Peintre. The Frenchman's really resisting being caught. His advantage is still 20 seconds, but there's a feeling the race behind will explode at any moment. 

5km to go: The gap now is 10 seconds. Bardet has been shelled out the back. 

4.8km to go: Majka takes over for UAE Team Emirates, which is usually a sign that Pogačar will soon be launched. 

4km to go: Paret-Peintre is caught. He swings to the right-hand side of the road to make way for UAE to come through. 

Here's a photo of him a moment ago. 

3.5km to go: Still no attacks. The tension is building. 

3km to go: Pogačar is glued to Majka's wheel. Behind, the other GC contenders bide their time. 

2.5km to go: Majka is still pulling on the front. Surely this can't last any longer? 

2km to go: A reminder that all the GC contenders are here, behind Majka and Pogačar. There's a stage win up for grabs for anyone who dares. 

1.8km to go: Antonio Tiberi attacks. A brave move from the youngster. 

1.6km to go: Pogačar latches immediately onto Tiberi's wheel. It's all back together. 

1.4km to go: Thymen Arensman counters, but Pogačar, again, closes the move down. 

1km to go: Tiberi goes again under the flamme rouge. You'll never guess who's on his wheel...

Pogačar. 

700m to go: Arensman ups the pace, but this looks like it's heading for a bunch sprint. 

500m to go: Majka's back on the front, and towing Pogačar. 

TADEJ POGAČAR WINS AGAIN 

The Slovenian takes a third stage win, launching his sprint with 200m to go and holding off Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) at the line. 

Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) comes home in third. It looks like there's a small time gap plus bonus seconds for the first three. 

Hold tight, I'll have a full report up shortly. 

Here's the victory photo. Quite the display from Pogačar, who is winning at will at the moment. 

You can now read the full report from today's stage on our website. We'll be back again tomorrow with more live coverage. 

Good morning and welcome to our live blog for stage two of this year's Giro d'Italia. After an explosive opening day (did anyone predict Jhonatan Narváez to win?), it's time for the first summit finish of the race – as early as day two!

Tadej Pogačar eked out a small gap over his GC rivals yesterday – he sits 14 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas – and should he win today, he'll almost certainly take the pink jersey. 

I'll be bringing you all the action here, blow by blow. If you want to get in touch with me, don't hesitate to reach out to me on Twitter - @t_davidson. 

Here's what's in store for the peloton today. After a pair of category three climbs, the race will finish on the category one Santuario di Oropa – 11.7km at an average gradient of 6.2%. 

It is, I think, the earliest summit finish in the race since 1989. 

The last time the Giro d'Italia visited Oropa was in 2017, when Tom Dumoulin won the stage en route to claiming his first, and only, Grand Tour. 

The climb previously took on legendary status in 1999 when Marco Pantani, then the pink jersey wearer, had a mechanical on its early slopes and had to get off his bike. Having lost 45 seconds to the pack, 'Il Pirata' then bolted up the gradient, tagging and passing everyone to win the stage. 

Could there be more drama today? 

Here's how the general classification stands going into stage two: 

1. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, in 3:14:23
2. Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, +3s
3. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, +6s
4. Alex Baudin (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +16s
5. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +17s
6. Nicola Conci (Ita) Alpecin-Deceuninck, +18s
7. Quinten Hermans (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck, +20s
8. Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
9. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
10. Attila Valter (Hun) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time

If you didn't catch Narváez's victory yesterday, fear not, Joseph Lycett has you covered with this race report of the action.  

You can also find all the other classification leaders in our dedicated article. 

Today's stage timings are as follows: 

Start: 11:55 (BST)
Expected finish: 16:13 (BST)

The below tweet has the local times. 

Still an hour and a half from the stage start, it's breakfast time for the riders right now (and me). 

Poor Geraint Thomas is eating on his own. He's also feasting on what appears to be a large bowl of rice, topped with soy sauce or syrup of some kind. The breakfast of champions? 

If you're wondering, I'm having a bowl of fruit and fibre. I've got a pair of crumpets for afterwards, too. 

Not sure how to watch today's stage? Check out our live stream guide.

In short, it's Eurosport/discovery+ in the UK and Europe, Flobikes in the US, and SBS in Australia. You can also tune in anywhere using a VPN - details of how to do so are in the guide.   

The Giro, of course, is not the only Grand Tour taking place today. The final stage of the Vuelta Femenina is currently underway, with the peloton making their way to a summit finale. 

Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) went into the final day as the race leader, with a 52-second advantage over Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek). But with two category one climbs on the menu, and tired legs, anything can still happen. 

That race is expected to finish early, around 12:30 (BST), so make sure to catch it first before tuning into the Giro. I'll have a full report up on the Cycling Weekly website afterwards. 

There's one non-starter at the Giro today. 

Robert Gesink (Visma-Lease a Bike) broke his hand in a crash on stage one, and has therefore had to abandon. 

STAGE TWO BEGINS

161km to go: The flag drops and the riders start their pilgrimage to Oropa. 

Today's roll-out took place inside Turin's Velodromo Francone, which, as a track fan, fills me with delight.

160km to go: Immediately, Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) races ahead of the peloton to start the day's breakaway. The Italian, wearing the ciclamino points jersey on behalf of race leader Narváez, takes a handful of riders with him. 

155km to go: The peloton comes back together, but the struggle for the breakaway isn't over. This has been an animated start. 

152km to go: Five riders go clear, and the peloton looks happy to let them to do so. They are: 

Christian Scaroni (Astana-Qazaqstan)
Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost)
Davide Bais (Polti Kometa)
Martin Marcellusi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè)
Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè)

146km to go: The all-Italian breakaway has an advantage of 2-20 up the road. The mood has settled down, and the riders in the peloton are mingling calmly. 

Here's what Geraint Thomas had to say before the stage:

"Obviously we have to take a bit of control being in the leader's jersey. That doesn’t mean we’re necessarily going to bring it back for the stage. We’ll take our responsibility at the start and see how the race pans out."

Asked about UAE Team Emirates' tactics on stage one, the Welshman said: "It's the first day and everyone reacts a bit differently, so maybe they weren’t 100%, like we've seen with a few guys who were a bit off the pace. But they're still strong. I’m under no illusions there."

"There are still 20 days to go and a lot of harder stages to go."

122km to go: The breakaway now have a gap of 3-48. If you haven't already had your lunch, now is probably a good time to pop away from the screen.  

114km to go: The average speed so far is 46.5km/h. I struggle to do that going downhill. 

This year's Vuelta Femenina came to a close earlier this afternoon. I won't give you any spoilers, just in case you're planning on catching up later, but you can read the full race report, including the winner's words, on our website now.

99.9km to go: We're into the last 100km now. The five-rider breakaway has a lead of 4-29, with UAE Team Emirates pulling in the peloton behind. 

The first official climb starts with 44km to go. 

90km to go: Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) takes over from Ivo Oliviera (UAE Team Emirates) on the front of the peloton. Ineos and UAE look happy to control this one together – will they go head-to-head for the stage win? 

Tadej Pogačar is the favourite for the stage victory today. Here's what he had to say before the roll-out: 

"Yesterday, we saw a little bit who is strong and who is not strong. Anyway, it was too short of a climb in the end to see the competitors. Today will be more of a show to see who is better.

Asked when he plans to attack, Pogačar smiled and said: "Maybe I don’t even attack. Let's see. Today is the second stage of the Giro - it's three weeks long. But it's true that the next days are more easy. We can take the opportunities to make one extra effort today, but we will have to decide on the road."

74km to go: It's all calm at the Giro. The breakaway has a 3-24 advantage. 

This is a good time to remind ourselves of what is to come this afternoon. Here's the profile of the final climb, the Santuario di Oropa. Don't be fooled by the 6.2% average gradient – as you can see, it ramps up in the second half, with a maximum pitch at 14%. 

67km to go: We have a snippet of action at the intermediate sprint. Fiorelli (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè) leads his breakaway companions under the banner to take maximum points. 

65km to go: There's a good tustle in the peloton to sweep up the minor sprint points. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) comes in ahead of his fellow sprinters, with Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) on his wheel. A nice leg-stretcher for the fastmen. 

63km to go: A crash in the bunch sees Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) end up on the floor. The Irishman is slow to get up. As is Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease Bike), who came down in the same tumble

57km to go: The breakaway is still going strong, but their advantage has slipped to 2-17 as the road has started going uphill. A reminder of who's up the road: 

Christian Scaroni (Astana-Qazaqstan)
Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost)
Davide Bais (Polti Kometa)
Martin Marcellusi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè)
Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè)

Also, apologies, the only picture I can find of them is mostly purple bushes. 

54km to go: Fiorelli (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè) wins the Intergiro sprint from the breakaway. What's the Intergiro? I hear you ask. Well, it's basically a race within a race, an opportunity for riders from smaller teams to get on the podium at the end of the day. 

My colleague, James Shrubsall, wrote a nice explainer earlier this week. 

50km to go: Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost) has gotten sick of his breakaway companions and attacked up the road. The 23-year-old is only 1-07 down on the GC and is the virtual race leader on the road. 

44km to go: We're on the first official climb of the day – a third-category lump, 5.5km in length, at an average pitch of 5.6%. Piccolo leads with a 39-second advantage. 

43km to go: Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike) is on the ground. He's the second Visma rider to crash today, after Olav Kooij, in what has been a very unfortunate year for his team. Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard are both still sidelined with injuries, remember. 

39km to go: A Cofidis rider shoots out of the bunch and up the road. It's Harrison Wood, the young Brit, on his Grand Tour debut. 

36km to go: Piccolo is the first onto the descent, carrying a 1-09 advantage. Wood's attack was short-lived, and the Brit has now rejoined the peloton. 

33km to go: Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) is on the front of the peloton, winding down a bendy, tree-lined descent at 50km/h. This is pure artistry. 

27km to go: I'll be honest, I thought Piccolo's foray would be over by now, but the EF Education-EasyPost rider keeps nudging out his lead. He's 1-35 up the road, and taking some dicey risks on the descents. 

26km to go: Piccolo, a former junior European time trial champion, is yet to win a professional race in his career. 

He's on the penultimate climb now, another third-category kicker, before he takes on the Santuario di Oropa. He'll be the first on the final climb's slopes. 

25km to go: There's a bit of movement behind Piccolo. Christian Scaroni (Astana-Qazaqstan) and Martin Marcellusi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè), the remnants of the early breakaway, and jostling to the top of this climb, perhaps for KOM points. 

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has tufts aplenty sprouting from his helmet. When will he attack today, if at all? My guess is that he'll go just inside 5km to go. 

21km to go: Piccolo (EF Education EasyPost) leads onto the descent, but his advantage is coming down - now at 1-10. Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) is pulling behind. 

15km to go: Ineos Grenadiers have their full contingent at the front of the peloton, clawing back the 1-40 gap to Piccolo. Is the British squad trying to set something up? 

11km to go: Puncture for Tadej Pogačar! The Slovenian tumbles off his bike as he grinds to a halt. He gets a new bike, but he's chasing to get back on before the foot of the Oropa climb. 

10km to go: A sprint at the foot of the climb sees a handful of bonus seconds dealt out. Here's who took them: 

Three seconds - Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost)
Two seconds - Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers)
One second - Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers)

8km to go: We're onto the climb, and Pogačar is back in the pack, near the front with his UAE Team Emirates team-mates. 

7km to go: Here's what this climb looks like. We're still on the shallower slopes, but it's about to kick up.  

6.5km to go: Piccolo is caught. It's gearing up for a GC battle. 

6km to go: Nairo Quintana (Movistar) gets dropped from the peloton. The pace is high, as is the gradient, which ticks into the double figures. 

5.5km to go: Mikkel Bjerg hands over the baton to Rafal Majka, and Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates train is in full swing. He looks poised to attack.  

4.5km to go: Pogačar attacks!

Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) tries to follow, but there's daylight between the Slovenian and his rivals. 

4km to go: The other GC contenders are riding their own tempos, trying not to worry about Pogačar, who is alone out front

Ben O'Connor and Geraint Thomas ride in tandem 13 seconds behind.

2.5km to go: Pogačar's advantage is going up. He's now got a 25-second gap. 

Behind, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) joins O'Connor and Thomas. 

1km to go: Under the flamme rouge, Pogačar has a 31-second advantage. 

A small group has come together behind, with Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) leading the chase. Ben O'Connor is dropped. 

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) wins at the summit of the Santuario di Oropa! 

The Slovenian takes his first Giro d'Italia stage victory and moves into the pink leader's jersey. 

Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) finishes second, 27 seconds down. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) follows closely in third. 

You can read the full race report on our website. 

Nairo Quintana’s former doctor, Fredy Alexander Gonzales Torres, will stand trial in Marseille in September accused of "possession of a substance or method prohibited for use by an athlete" during the 2020 Tour de France. 

According to a report in Le Télégramme, the trial will begin on 2 September at the Marseille Criminal Court. Gonzales Torres faces charges of “possession of a substance or method prohibited for use by an athlete without medical justification, in this case equipment, tools, products and devices allowing implementing infusions and/or intravenous injections,” according to the Marseille prosecutor’s office. 

Quintana and his brother, Dayer, were investigated while riding for the French Arkéa-Samsic team in 2020. A preliminary investigation was launched by the Marseille prosecutor's office after a police raid carried out during the 17th of the Tour de France, which finished in Méribel. 

According to Dominique Laurens, Marseille prosecutor at the time, "suspect products" and a “method that could be described as doping” were discovered during the searches. 

The prosecutor’s office confirmed on Tuesday that they would press ahead with prosecution. 

“The investigation is closed and it has been decided to prosecute Mr Fredy Alexander Gonzales Torres, the Colombian doctor of the sports team,” a spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday. 

According to the French outlet’s sources, Gonzales Torres will also have to explain in court why on 16 September 2020, he allegedly administered “without medical justification", a “substance or method prohibited in the context of a sporting event” to two riders, via the equipment he already faces charges for possession of. 

The maximum penalty that the court could hand down would be five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£64,000).

“No doping substance has ever been found… I have nothing to hide and have never had anything to hide,” Quintana said at the time of the initial investigation. 

Two years later, the Colombian was disqualified from the 2022 Tour de France after testing positive for the painkiller Tramadol. The decision to disqualify him from the race was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). 

Quintana initially finished sixth on the general classification before his result was wiped. 

In a video shared on Twitter after the ruling from CAS, Quintana said: "Today we got the response from the CAS. Sadly, it wasn't good for me.

"With pride I can say that, throughout my long sporting career, I've been through more than 300 anti-doping controls, which makes more or less three a month, and I've never had any problem with doping. I have many reasons to not do it and to have not taken this product. Sadly, the CAS result came out like this."

Quintana was not suspended from competition, but remained in the cycling wilderness for 18 months before recently recently rejoining his former team, Movistar. The Colombian climber started his WorldTour career with the Spanish team in 2012 and rode for them until 2019. He will start the Tour Colombia for his new team on Tuesday.

He previously won the 2014 Giro d’Italia and 2016 Vuelta a España while riding for Movistar.

There’s a precocious young rider on UAE Team Emirates from a non-traditional cycling country, who won the Tour de l’Avenir and has taken a WorldTour win in his neo-pro year. No, not Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar, but Mexico’s Isaac del Toro, five years his junior, the new kid on the block.

Having never taken part in a ProTour event before, let alone a WorldTour race, Del Toro won stage two of the Tour Down Under into Lobethal on Wednesday. It meant he tasted victory at just his second attempt at this level. Life is easy.

The 20-year-old seemed overawed at his achievement, understandable given his age and stature. “We wanted to win, but this is too much for me,” he explained. “Life, for me, is so good now. Normally, it's not like that.”

The result might have stunned Del Toro, but it was not unplanned. His UAE directeur sportif Marco Marcato revealed: "We had a few cards to play today with Finn [Fisher-Black], Diego [Ulissi] and also Isaac. It went perfect. We told Isaac that in case of a reduced bunch sprint to try and anticipate it [and attack]. It was fantastic work from him."

It was not the first time that Del Toro had attacked on Wednesday's stage, with the Mexican attempting something with his Kiwi counterpart Fisher-Black on the final climb. However, it was the final attack which proved decisive, and rewarding.

"We had a plan to try something on the climb, but it was crazy to get position," Fisher-Black said. "We were way too far back and had to make up a lot of ground. I thought it was all over but then I saw Isaac hook it round the right, and held it up. It's amazing.

"I knew from the last few days that he has a pretty crazy kick on him. You could hear him coming round the side of me on that last little kick, at twice the speed. He could have freewheeled to the line and he still could have won."

Del Toro has not come from nowhere. He won last year's Tour de l'Avenir, the highest profile race for under-23 riders, following in the wheel tracks of Pogačar, Egan Bernal and Nairo Quintana. In fact, he didn't just win it, but won the mountains, sprint, and youth classifications all at the same time, something his much more successful new teammate didn't manage. 

It took Pogačar 29 race days to record his first WorldTour victory in his neo-pro year - although he won a stage of the Volta ao Algarve nine days in - while Del Toro has succeeded on day two. The latter might not go onto finish on the podium of a Grand Tour in his debut season, as Pogačar did, but his future is certainly bright.

UAE Team Emirates have a habit of signing well, with Del Toro following on from Pogačar and Juan Ayuso in being The Next Big Thing at the squad. "We followed him from when he was an amateur. This was good timing to let him in the team," his DS said.

"He's a good guy, he still has to learn, but it looks like he's learning fast," Marcato continued. "He already started well here, and he has potential and talent. He won l'Avenir, those guys are normally good as professionals too. 

"I think he is good on the climbs, but he can also move well in the bunch and see the race. He has good eyes to see the situation, and he can take an advantage from that."

"Everyone knew his numbers were good from last year," Fisher-Black added. "He's the best neo-pro coming through. For sure, I think he can show it in the racing now."

Del Toro was keen to play down his position in the team post-stage, but with his win, he has moved into the leader's ochre jersey, and could feasibly hold it all the way to the end of the race on Sunday. His teammate was quick to back him.

"Yeah for sure, 100% [he could win]," Fisher-Black said. "He's a climber, and if he can do a two minute effort like this, he can also do Willunga. It's good to have him. It'll be cool to see how it goes. If it comes down to a sprint on Willunga we know we can back him."

It could quite easily over-awe you, one supposes, coming into a WorldTour team, and winning in just your third official week with the squad. It is quite the acceleration.

"He's super excited to be here," Fisher-Black explained. "He's never been on a pro team before... I remember when I was a neo-pro, everything is super amazing, like all the support you get from the team. He's fizzing. It's cool to see."

Pogačar went from being the most promising rider in the world to being the best rider in the world within a couple of years. Del Toro is currently at step one of his journey, and there is no guarantee of more success, but it does not seem too fanciful to say we will be seeing a Mexican on podiums a lot more often now. Over to you, Isaac.

In the depiction of cycling-crazed nations—France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark and Japan—Colombia stands thousands of miles apart. In a land steeped in mountainous, coffee-rich terrain, cycling is more than an athletic pursuit; it's an embodiment of the country’s grit, heritage and pride.

With its rugged terrain, snow-capped volcanoes, terraced hillsides and high-altitude cities, cycling here isn’t for the easily discouraged. The  climbs are monsters, the air is thin and the cyclists this topography produces are powerful and determined.

Colombia’s love affair with the cycling sport dates back to the inception of the Vuelta a Colombia in 1951, further stoked by the founding of the annual Clásico RCN in 1961. The triumphs of Martín Emilio Rodríguez and Luis Herrera in cycling’s Grand Tours set ablaze the sport's popularity, paving the path for modern day Colombian stars like Rigoberto Uran, Nairo Quintana, Egan Bernal and Esteban Chaves.

As these riders climb themselves into cycling’s history books abroad, the sport flourishes at home with young Colombians flocking to race starts and craftsmen bringing their expertise to the burgeoning domestic bike industry. 

This fall, we visited two of Colombia’s most exciting cycling brands to see how things are hecho en Colombia. 

Scarab Cycles - made-to-measure steel bikes

Founded in 2018, Scarab Cycles is a passion project of Santiago Toro. Toro, an industrial engineer by training, got his start in the bike industry with master bike builder Agustín Hincapié, with whom he created Tinno Cycles. 

After four years working on Tinno, Toro decided to embark on his own journey to create high-quality, custom-made bike frames with proud Colombian flare at a price point to rival mass-produced carbon frames.

Today, Scarab produces an impressive six steel framesets per week, which are sold direct-to-consumer and in boutique shops worldwide. For Americans, you can find a Scarab pop-up in Miami, Florida. 

Scarab Cycles is located in Retiro, Antioquia, a small community about an hour and a half's drive south of Medellín. Toro chose this location not only due to its access to phenomenal riding (and the fact that it's conveniently located next to an excellent brewery) but to support the local economy and job force as well. Rather than hiring experienced welders, painters and craftsmen, Toro went through the time-intensive but rewarding process of recruiting and then training young locals in the craft and art of bicycle manufacturing.

Why steel? "Because it provides the perfect balance between ride quality, durability and weight," says Toro. "Steel provides a unique feeling of the road. It smoothens out the harshness of the surface while transferring power in a unique way."

For its framesets, Scarab relies on Columbus tubing and pairs it with a Columbus carbon fork.

What sets Scarab apart from other handmade steel bike brands is their phenomenal in-house paint jobs. It's the reason Scarab has become such a favorite at handmade bike shows and builder spotlights. Led by designer Alejandro Bustamante, no two Scarab framesets are the same. Each Scarab is designed and painted –be it dipped, air-brushed, painstakingly hand-painted or even stenciled– one at a time.

From the colorful Chiva bus-inspired designs to this year's beetle-covered anniversary bike, Scarab is known to partner with local artists to turn each frame into a genuine work of art – almost too precious to set free on the region's ribbons of roads and chunky agrarian paths.

More than a bike company, Toro sees Scarab as ambassadors of all the good things Colombia has to offer: color, craftsmanship, passion and incredible riding. As such, most Scarab framesets sport a small ribbon of yellow, blue and red on the seatstays.

"A Scarab bicycle is a little piece of Colombia that you can bring home," says Toro. "And an invitation to visit and explore our country. Colombia es tu casa! (Colombia is your home)."

While Scarab frames are made-to-measure and feature stunning custom paint jobs, it was important to Toro to make something for the everyday, avid cyclist. Something that's "fully custom yet attainable." A Scarab frameset starts at $3400 USD.

Safetti - Colombian made cycling apparel

Switching from steel to spandex, we made a visit to apparel company Safetti in the heart of bustling Medellín. Located a mere 5 kilometres from the Hincapie Sportswear factory, Safetti makes high-performance apparel for cyclists, triathletes and runners, and is the apparel maker for many local amateur and elite teams. 

Founded in 2005 with origins in triathlon, Safetti, has gained recognition in South America for its high quality materials and advanced technologies that, in this author's opinion, rival that of bigger brand names. Safetti is proudly Colombian and well-respected for its environmentally conscious processes and, like Scarab, its contributions to the local community. Safetti employs 135 local workers and sponsors local sporting teams and events.

The company was founded by Adriana Mejia and Federico Vélez, perhaps the biggest cycling collector we've ever met. Safetti is equal parts apparel factory and bicycle museum. Dozens upon dozens of vintage bicycles and collector's items can be found throughout the brand's two buildings as well as Casa Safetti, which is a rentable vacation home for cycling enthusiasts in El Retiro.

Safetti's 135 employees produce some 150,000 pieces of clothing annually, which are used by amateur and professional athletes alike.

For those in the US, Safetti has a direct-to-consumer website.

Nairo Quintana stood up on Wednesday, in front of the world’s media, and stressed that he will not be retiring, that he still loves cycling, and that he has always been a clean rider. He wants to continue racing. There is one problem: he does not have a team, and might never find one.

This feels like the biggest flaw in the 32-year-old's plan to carry on in the sport. There had been mounting speculation that Quintana would announce that he was leaving professional cycling at the press conference he called; what else would it be, given he does not have a team? Team after team has denied interest, and as Rui Costa was on the attack in the Challenge Mallorca, he stood up to speak. This had to be it.

However, this did not come to pass. At his coffee company, 9.30, in Bogotá, the diminutive Colombian took to the stage to insist that he wants to continue. The season has already started, however, the WorldTour is underway, and riders are winning races in Australia, Mallorca, Gabon and Argentina, all while Quintana stand on the sidelines. What's the point in fighting to stay in the sport if you will never win?

"I'm going to keep battling to continue - to continue on the bike until my body and mind give way," he said.

"I want to return to competition, pin a number on, feel the pain in the legs but also the satisfaction of victory and of giving the best of myself until the line. I want this, I need this, because competition is a part of me."

I could give a press conference to say I had not given up on my dream of playing for Southampton Football Club, but it's not going to make the outcome any more likely to happen.

Quintana left Arkéa-Samsic at the end of the 2022 season, despite signing a new contract with the French team last summer, ahead of their big promotion to the WorldTour. 

The day after Quintana signed his new contract, he was retrospectively disqualified from the 2022 Tour de France, after two of his blood samples revealed the presence of the painkiller tramadol. The UCI's decision was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] last month.

While the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) does not include tramadol on its banned substance list, the painkiller had been banned by the UCI since March 2019 due to its adverse side effects. WADA has since outlawed its use, which will come into effect from 2024.

"I am an honest rider, I've always said so, in my more than 260 [doping] controls in the last 10 years of my career, I've never had problems," Quintana argued on Wednesday. "Ever since I turned professional in 2009, I have respected the rules, competing with integrity, respecting and honouring the fair game."

However, that's not what the tramadol positive shows. It makes it all the more difficult for the ageing climber to find a new squad. Nine of the 18 WorldTour teams, and a further 15 ProTeams are members of the the Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC), which has stricter guidelines than WADA or the UCI on corticosteroids and tramadol.

"I don't have a team, but I'm a rider who's still available to put on a jersey and give his best on the road," Quintana said.

Well, with the 24 MPCC teams unlikely to give the Colombian a spot for this year, it leaves him short of options, especially at the top level. One can rule UAE Team Emirates, Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal Quick-Step and Jumbo-Visma out immediately, as teams too successful, too big, to need the controversy that would come with signing Quintana.

Astana-Qazaqstan has already denied interest, and has already taken a punt on someone without a team, signing Mark Cavendish. That leaves Bahrain-Victorious, Movistar, Jayco-AlUla and Trek-Segafredo at WorldTour, and only Trek or Bahrain have space. I can't see it happening.

Quintana again said that he did not want to race for Continental teams from Colombia, like his compatriot Miguel Ángel López, after his dismissal from Astana, but what does that leave him? Setting up his own team?

He can talk about his belief, and his love for Colombia all he wants, but it is so hard to think of where he could fit in; a squad that he would like to ride for, that would also be willing to pay him a wage and give him free reign. It is a lot.

For now, then, Quintana's is a career stuck in limbo, in purgatory, without the push that will take him into his idea of hell - retirement - or into his idea of heaven - one final chance on the biggest stage.

In fact, all of his career's achievements hang in the balance; are we to forget the impressive rides that saw him almost win the Tour de France twice, and win the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, and think of him as the rider who took tramadol? It is not currently clear.

Nothing is certain, and perhaps we will see the wily old climber on the mountains of Europe one last time, reminding us of that day up Mont Ventoux, that day on the Stelvio. It probably time to accept that the time for Quintana is over, however.

Perhaps he should become a poet, or some kind of spokesman for Colombian cycling, such was his eloquence on Wednesday. Farewell Nairo the cyclist, the pen beckons.

"I am convinced that from our mountains emerge the best talents in world cycling, who will read my story and be inspired to go out and conquer the world," he conclued. "I, for now, want to continue writing more chapters on the bike."

Who would allow him to write his verse on two wheels is less clear.

As the professional cycling transfer window has begun to draw to a close, one rider is notably currently short of a ride for the 2023 season. Mark Cavendish. 

There has been stacks of reports as to where the joint Tour de France stage win’s record holder may find himself next season. 

He had been heavily linked to the French Proteam B & B Hotels-KTM throughout the autumn and winter. Team management at B & B repeatedly stated throughout the off-season that Cavendish was set to join the French squad as a team leader. However, planned big money sponsorship for B & B never materialised, with the announcement coming last week that they have now collapsed. 

With the news of B & B’s demise, questions have even been asked if that’s now it for the Manxman with his stunning second victory in the British national road championships being his final act in the sport. 

In the meantime, Trek-Segafredo have become one of several high-profile WorldTour teams to rule out a late move for Cavendish, with general manager Luca Guercilena explaining that the team plan to continue to focus on younger talent in the years to come. 

Cavendish has also been linked to the American ProTeam Human Powered Health in a report by WielerFlits. However, a surprise move to the American squad wouldn’t essentially guarantee Cavendish a return to the Tour in 2023. 

Human Powered Health have yet to comment on the matter. 

Even if the move to the American team doesn’t materialise, all is not lost, with several squads still without a sprinter for the coming season meaning that there’s time for a late move yet. 

Here at Cycling Weekly, we look at where the Manxman could find himself next. 

INEOS GRENADIERS

With all of Ineos’ firepower being aimed at Grand Tour success in recent years, you could argue that any link with Cavendish is merely a wild rumour. 

However, he rode for the team, then Team Sky, when they enjoyed a boom of victories, and would mark a return to the glory days that saw Bradley Wiggins land 2012 Tour victory.

Geraint Thomas took a fine third place at the Tour this year for Britain’s only WorldTour level squad. However, Thomas has publicly stated that with the Giro d’Italia route featuring more than 70 kilometres of time trialling next season, he will head to Italy. 

With Thomas likely out of the Tour team as a result, that would only leave Egan Bernal or riders like Dani Martinez as potential leaders for Ineos next July. 

Former Giro and Tour winner Bernal is still on the road to recovery after sustaining horrific injuries in a training crash earlier this year, so is unlikely to be able to lead the charge for Ineos. Martinez is still, to a certain extent, unproven as a GC leader. 

The team have also begun to adapt, changing their identity to one that's prepared to challenge in a one day setting too. They saw great success at Paris-Roubaix with Dylan van Baarle, and adding a former monument winner in Cavendish to the fold could help them continue in that vein. 

Not only that, but without an out-and-out overall favourite at the Tour next year, they may look for success in stage wins instead. The team already possess a sprinter in the form of Italian Elia Viviani , although Viviani has hardly set the world alight in the last 12 months. 

Adding Cavendish to the squad once more, even just for a year, would bring experience and stability to what is now with the exception of Thomas and Luke Rowe, a very young roster. 

It would also mean a solid chance at stage wins at next year's Tour, with the added bonus of potentially having Cavendish take a record 35th stage win with Ineos emblazoned across his chest.

A British sponsor's dream scenario on a British team. 

ARKÉA-SAMSIC 

The French team already possess a sprinter in the form of Nacer Bouhanni, although the Frenchman hasn’t taken a victory at WorldTour level for a number of years. Cavendish has. 

Not only that, but the squad now lacks a leader after the departure of their star GC rider Nairo Quintana. It’s not difficult to imagine that Quintana would have taken up a large percentage of the teams budget, therefore leaving funds available to bring in a sprinter of Cavendish’s calibre who would significantly increase their chances of WorldTour success next season.  

Arkea-Samsic would also provide a guaranteed return to the Tour de France, with them also being confirmed to move to the WorldTour for 2023. 

The team would also have a solid lead out train which would be good to go, with Hugo Hofstetter, British rider Dan McLay and David Dekker among others already contracted for next season. 

HUMAN POWERED HEALTH

The American ProTeam Human Powered Health has emerged as being something of a surprise potential destination for Cavendish next year. 

According to the report from WielerFlits, the American squad have emerged in “pole position” for Cavendish’s signature, although that wouldn’t necessarily guarantee them entry into high-profile WorldTour races like the Tour. 

Human Powered Health would have to outrace multiple other ProTeam’s at the start of the year for a shot at receiving a wildcard entry to the Tour from race organisers ASO. The odds aren’t entirely in the teams favour with them having only received invites to ASO organised races on two other occasions. 

Joining the team would guarantee that he could still compete at a respected level, but Human Powered Health would be an odd move if a guaranteed return to the Tour was what Cavendish is hoping for next year. 

The team also lacks a ready to go sprint train to back Cavendish, unlike fellow ProTeam Arkéa–Samsic. 

ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH

Even though the Sylvan Adams backed squad will drop from the WorldTour next year, they could still provide Cavendish with a good staging post to continue his career. 

The Israeli team already have some big name riders on their team, including Chris Froome, Giacomo Nizzolo and Jakob Fuglsang and Adams is the type of owner who wouldn’t be afraid to splash the cash to add a fourth to the frame. 

The team took two big wins at the Tour de France last season through Simon Clarke and Hugo Houle, and would be one of the ProTeam level squads more likely to receive an invite to next year's Tour. 

If Cavendish were to join, then that would make that an almost foregone conclusion. 

However, last week Israel-Premier Tech announced that they had signed former Bahrain Victorious rider Stevie Williams, and confirmed that their roster was now full for the 2023 season, making a move there for Cavendish difficult. 

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

With the majority of the rosters at WorldTour teams being complete, opportunities for Cavendish are gradually getting thinner. 

Among the WorldTour squads, several are at their full roster including EF Education-EasyPost, Movistar, BikeExchange-Jayco and, as mentioned above, Israel-Premier Tech. 

Other teams, including UAE Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma potentially have space for other signings, but with these two both likely to be going for Tour victory next year, it seems highly unlikely that they would look to add a sprinter to the fold. 

Norwegian ProTeam Uno-X are one squad who could see themselves receiving an invite to some of cycling's biggest races next season, and may look to add more signings. Although after already bringing in Alexander Kristoff, a move for Cavendish seems unlikely. 

Plus, Uno-X manager Jens Haugland played down any links to Cavendish in a TV2 interview in Norway this week. 

“Cavendish is a legendary cyclist who will very likely take part in the Tour de France, but not for Uno-X." 

Groupama-FDJ also could potentially bring in Cavendish, although with them possessing one of his biggest rivals last season, Arnaud Demare, that seems highly unlikely. The French team were briefly linked to Cavendish by La Gazzetta dello Sport this week. However, that was another link that did not last long. 

Elsewhere in the WorldTour, the sacking of Miguel Angel López by Astana Qazaqstan this week opens up a place on their roster that he could fill.

AG2R Citroën, Bahrain Victorious (where Cavendish rode in 2020) and Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert also have room for more signings. 

A RETURN TO INEOS MAKES SENSE

With it confirmed that Geraint Thomas is making a return to the Giro d’Italia next year, Ineos Grenadiers severely lack another rider who would possess the form and fitness to challenge the likes of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour next year in the general classification battle.

Bernal may need more time to regain his racing legs, and it may still be too early for the likes of Tom Pidcock to seriously mount an effort at the Tour podium. The team has also lost Adam Yates to UAE Team Emirates ahead of the coming season. 

With that in mind, Ineos’ direction is changing. The British team have already begun to reassess themselves and the type of racing that they’re known for, with that reshuffling process paying dividends at this year's Paris-Roubaix. 

Bringing Cavendish back into the fold ahead of the Tour would make sense for where the team are headed going forward. Cavendish enjoyed some of his best performances in a Team Sky jersey, and a return to his former stomping ground would also see them then possess another rider, other than the likes of Pidcock, who would be more than capable of picking up stage wins at the Tour next year. 

After weeks of uncertainty about his future, Nairo Quintana has confirmed that he has found a team for the 2023 road season.

The Colombian announced his exit from Arkéa-Samsic last month, six weeks after he was disqualified from the 2022 Tour de France after returning two positive blood samples for the painkiller tramadol. 

Speaking to Colombian publication AS at the launch of his new café on Wednesday, Quintana revealed that he has joined a new team for next season. “We have to keep calm, though,” he said. “Later on I’ll tell you about the decisions I’ve taken and what will happen with my future.”

Asked if his new team competes at WorldTour level, Quintana dodged the question. “Later on we’ll comment on everything to do with the team and my career,” he said, before adding that he'll meet Arkéa-Samsic in races "as rivals". 

Earlier this week, the two-time Grand Tour winner told Colombian outlet EFE that he will be competing on the WorldTour next season. 

“The idea is to stay motivated to win races and represent my country,” he said. “That’s what I have in mind. I’ll carry on strongly and next year I’ll be there in the big ones.

“Next year for sure you’re going to see Nairo Quintana on screen competing in one of your favourite races.”

A number of WorldTour teams have already denied rumours of signing the Colombian, with AG2R Citroën, Astana-Qazaqstan and Bahrain-Victorious all ruling out a possible move. Of course, Quintana could sign for one of cycling's ProTeams, who often receive invites to compete in WorldTour races. 

Earlier this month, the UCI’s decision to disqualify the former Arkéa-Samsic rider from the 2022 Tour de France was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Quintana maintains, however, that he has never used tramadol, a substance due to be banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) from 2024.

In a video shared on Twitter, the Colombian said: “With pride I can say that, throughout my long sporting career, I've been through more than 300 anti-doping controls, which makes more or less three a month, and I've never had any problem with doping. 

“I have many reasons to not do it and to have not taken this product. Sadly, the CAS result came out like this."

Nairo Quintana reckons he will still be racing at WorldTour level next year. That's what he told Colombian media over the weekend, although whether it was a bluff or lost in translation, it is not particularly clear.

The 32-year-old is without a team for next year, after he left Arkéa-Samsic at the end of this season, a decision which followed his disqualification from the Tour de France.

Quintana returned a positive test during the race for tramadol on two separate occasions during the race; he finished sixth overall at the Tour but lost his result due to the decision. Tramadol is not currently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] but is due to be banned from 2024. The UCI's decision was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] last month.

“I’ll be in the WorldTour,” Quintana said, according to EFE, this month. “I’m going to carry on racing hard, I’m moving forward. The idea is to stay motivated to win races and represent my country.” 

“That’s what I have in mind. I’ll carry on strongly and next year I’ll be there in the big ones,” he said. “Next year for sure you’re going to see Nairo Quintana on screen competing in one of your favourite races.”

However, there is a big problem with this assertion. He is still without a team, and multiple possible avenues have been shut down, with teams denying their interest in the Colombian.

In October, first AG2R Citroën said no, after rumours surfaced that he would be heading to a French team. "Contrary to an information released in different medias AG2R CITROËN TEAM has never had any contact with Nairo Quintana or his agent and is not interested by his recruitment," a statement read.

Then, Astana-Qazaqstan were next to deny interest. A spokesman told Cyclingnews: "At the moment, Astana Qazaqstan Team is completing its transfer campaign and in principle, we have discussed and closed all positions in the team for the next year.

"I saw that in some media, including Cyclingnews, that there was information about the possible interest of our team in Nairo Quintana, but this is not true."

Now, after these latest Quintana comments, Bahrain-Victorious have been forced to say that he won't be going there, while any suggestion of Movistar picking him up seem wide of the mark, as their team is already full for next year. The Spanish team already denied any interest in signing Mark Cavendish for the same reason.

As a result, Quintana seems devoid of options, especially at WorldTour level. It could be that he means riding for a ProTeam who get invited to WorldTour races, but this seems a forlorn hope at the moment. 

Team Medellín EPM, a Colombian Continental-level squad, posted a social media message offering Quintana a spot on its team for 2023 last week, but that feels below Quintana's level. It might still be his only route.

The Colombian still denies using tramadol: "Although many have seen it in a bad light, I have always tried to prove my innocence."

"The result wasn't as I'd hoped but I defended myself, and I'm calm knowing I've done nothing bad. That's why I want to keep going and keep fighting."

The decision to disqualify Nairo Quintana from the 2022 Tour de France by the UCI has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS]. 

Quintana returned a positive test during the race for tramadol on two separate occasions.

Quintana finished sixth overall at the Tour but lost his result due to the decision. Tramadol is not currently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] but is due to be banned from 2024.

It is currently banned under the UCI’s medical rules for safety reasons. 

The Colombian had appealed to CAS in a bid to get the UCI’s decision overturned and his race results reinstated but the decision now stands.

Quintana recently confirmed that he had terminated his contract with French team Arkea-Samsic and news of the decision will inevitably damage his chances of securing a ride for 2023. 

In a statement issued by CAS on Thursday, it was confirmed that the evidence supplied by the UCI was satisfactory and that Quintana’s samples contained tramadol. 

It said: “The panel deliberated and determined that the UCI’s in-competition ban on tramadol was for medical rather than doping reasons and was therefore within the UCI’s power and jurisdiction. 

“Furthermore, the panel was comfortably satisfied that the scientific evidence showed that Nairo Quintana’s samples contained both tramadol and its two metabolites. On this basis, the Panel concluded that the challenged decision should stand, and dismissed the appeal.”

In a video shared on Twitter, Quintana said: "Today we got the response from the CAS. Sadly, it wasn't good for me.

"With pride I can say that, throughout my long sporting career, I've been through more than 300 anti-doping controls, which makes more or less three a month, and I've never had any problem with doping. I have many reasons to not do it and to have not taken this product. Sadly, the CAS result came out like this."

Quintana continued: "But it's like that, my friends. Life moves on, life continues and the storm will pass."

Tramadol is a strong opioid painkiller that can have adverse side effects including nausea, drowsiness and loss of concentration.

As a result  it was banned by the UCI in 2019 but since it is banned under the organisation's medical rules, it does not automatically come with a suspension. Rider’s results can still be voided if a positive test occurs. 

Decisions by the Court of Arbitration for Sport are final and riders are unable to appeal. Quintana hasn’t appeared in a race since the Tour de France other than the recent road world championships in Australia. 

It remains to be seen whether he will race at cycling’s highest level in 2023. 

Cycling teams do not normally take the step of responding to transfer speculation; it usually all happens behind closed doors, with agents trying to arrange things away from prying eyes. You will see a rumour in the media, but rarely an official confirmation or denial, until business is finally done.

This is what makes AG2R Citroën's official denial of interest in signing Nairo Quintana all the more interesting. Not only were they willing to tell people off the record that it wasn't happening, they felt they had to issue a firm rebuttal to the speculation.

"Contrary to an information released in different medias AG2R CITROËN TEAM has never had any contact with Nairo Quintana or his agent and is not interested by his recruitment," a message from the team read on Tuesday morning.

What this says about Quintana's status within the sport after his retrospective disqualification from the 2022 Tour de France, after two of his blood samples revealed the presence of the painkiller tramadol, or AG2R's need to reassure their riders or investors, is an interesting question.

While the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) didn’t include tramadol on its banned substance list, the painkiller had been banned by the UCI since March 2019 due to its adverse side effects. WADA has since outlawed its use. 

The Colombian announced he will leave Arkéa-Samsic at the end of this season, just six weeks after he agreed a new three-year deal with the French team. 

“I want to thank Arkéa-Samsic for these last three years,” the Colombian said in a message shared on his Instagram account. “We’ve had ups and downs, but I’ve been able to bring my experience to the team and collect UCI points.”

While the contract extension was announced by the team, French media said that nothing was officially signed between the rider and the team, which allowed Arkéa and Quintana to part ways.

French newspaper L'Equipe reported over the weekend that a separate French team had made a contract proposal, with their piece saying that it was a WorldTour squad.

The report cited "sources close to the Colombian", noting that a French team had already made him a contract proposal. With AG2R out, this leaves Cofidis or Groupama-FDJ, neither of whom have said anything, but the French paper also reported that Astana-Qazaqstan were interested; this might make more sense, with Vincenzo Nibali retiring this year.

However, time and opportunities are running out for the Colombian, who still has his disqualification due to tramadol and appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport hanging over him.

In his Instagram message over the weekend, Quintana said: “I will keep you informed on my future in the coming weeks and prove what an honest rider I am.

“I have brought an appeal before the CAS and I’m continuing to work with my team of lawyers. I’m optimistic because I am an honest person, I’ve done nothing wrong or illegal and I want to defend myself.”

With Quintana departing Arkéa, along with Brit Connor Swift, who has moved to Ineos Grenadiers, there are now spaces and funds available at the French ProTour team.

Nairo Quintana has announced he will leave Arkéa-Samsic at the end of this season, just six weeks after he agreed a new three-year deal with the French team. 

“I want to thank Arkéa-Samsic for these last three years,” the Colombian said in a message shared on his Instagram account. “We’ve had ups and downs, but I’ve been able to bring my experience to the team and collect UCI points.”

The day after Quintana signed his new contract, he was retrospectively disqualified from the 2022 Tour de France, after two of his blood samples revealed the presence of the painkiller tramadol. 

While the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) didn’t include tramadol on its banned substance list, the painkiller had been banned by the UCI since March 2019 due to its adverse side effects. WADA has since outlawed its use. 

In his Instagram message, Quintana added: “I will keep you informed on my future in the coming weeks and prove what an honest rider I am.

“I have brought an appeal before the CAS and I’m continuing to work with my team of lawyers. I’m optimistic because I am an honest person, I’ve done nothing wrong or illegal and I want to defend myself.”

Last month, the 32-year-old chose not to take the start line at the Vuelta a España in order to prepare his appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

He had previously said that he was “totally unaware” of having taken tramadol, and denied ever using it during his career. 

“With my legal team we will exhaust every means to prepare my defence,” Quintana wrote in a statement shared on 17 August. 

The Colombian has not competed for Arkéa-Samsic since the UCI sanction and is not expected to race again this year. Last month, he represented his country in the men’s elite road race at the World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, finishing 66th. 

Quintana came sixth in the general classification at the Tour de France in July but has since had his results from the race wiped. The UCI clarified in a statement that, as this was his first offence, he would be allowed to continue racing for the remainder of the season.

Nairo Quintana (Arkéa–Samsic) has announced he won't start the Vuelta a España tomorrow, instead opting to focus on defending himself at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The UCI retroactively disqualified him from the Tour de France yesterday (Wednesday), after cycling's governing body announced two dried blood samples provided by the Colombian on July 8 and 13 revealed the presence of banned painkiller tramadol. 

The UCI clarified that because this is Quintana's first offence, though, he can still compete at the Vuelta and other upcoming races. However, the Colombian has decided to focus his efforts on defending himself at CAS, consequently withdrawing from the Grand Tour on the eve of the first stage in Utrecht.

"I announce that I will not participate in the Vuelta a España to assert my reasons before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)," Quintana stated. "I will return to the race calendar at the end of the season."

While the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) doesn't include tramadol on its banned substance list, the UCI banned the substance in March 2019 due to the adverse side-effects the drug can cause.  

Yesterday, the 32-year-old strongly denied using tramadol, which is a strong painkiller. 

“Today I realised by surprise the news from the UCI of an infraction for the use of tramadol,” Quintana said. “I am totally unaware of the use of this substance, and I deny ever using it during my career.

“With my legal team we will exhaust every means to prepare my defence."

Already in the Netherlands preparing for the first three stages of the Vuelta, Quintana also added he would start the race despite the UCI's ruling. Ultimately, he has reversed that decision. 

“I also want to confirm that I will be at the Vuelta a España, mounted on my bike to give the maximum for my team, my country, and my followers."

Arkéa-Samsic also acknowledged the UCI's ruling, but refused to comment further than a short, issued statement.

"Arkéa-Samsic has taken note of the notification from the UCI received by Nairo Quintana informing him of the presence of Tramadol in two dried blood samples collected during the last Tour de France," the statement read. 

"The UCI Medical Regulations provide for a ban on the use of Tramadol in competition for medical reasons from 1 March 2019.

"Furthermore, this breach of the UCI Medical Regulations does not result in a suspension for the rider.

"The Arkéa-Samsic team will make no further comment."

The UCI has retrospectively disqualified Nairo Quintana (Arkéa–Samsic) from the 2022 Tour de France, after two dried blood samples provided to the UCI by the Colombian revealed the presence of banned painkiller tramadol.

Consequently, Quintana, who had finished sixth on GC and achieved a second place finish on stage 11 atop the Col du Granon, has had his results from the race wiped. The UCI clarified, though, that because this is his first offence, he can still compete at the upcoming Vuelta a España and other races. 

Tramadol is a strong painkiller, available either as an injection or orally, and has been banned by the UCI since March 2019 due to side-effects the drug can cause. These include nausea, dizziness, indigestion, vertigo, vomiting, constipation and drowsiness. 

The World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) doesn't include tramadol on its banned substance list. 

The UCI stated: “The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that the Colombian rider Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas has been sanctioned for an infringement of the in-competition ban on using tramadol as set out in the UCI Medical Rules with the aim of protecting the safety and health of riders in light of the side-effects of this substance,” the statement from the UCI said.

“The analyses of two dried blood samples provided by the rider on 8 and 13 July during the 2022 Tour de France revealed the presence of tramadol and its two main metabolites. In accordance with the UCI Medical Rules, the rider is disqualified from the 2022 Tour de France.”

Quintana has the opportunity to appeal the decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within the next 10 days. 

At the Tour de France, the UCI collected 120 dried blood samples as part of the tramadol programme. The drug was first banned by cycling's governing body from competition on March 1, 2019, in order to protect riders' health due to adverse effects people can suffer when using the drug

International Testing Agency (ITA) collect the samples via a small amount of blood from the rider's fingertip, before the sample analysis is conducted at the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at Geneva University. 

Following an independent review at the University of Lausanne’s Centre of Research and Expertise in Anti-Doping Sciences (REDs), the results are submitted to the UCI Medical Director, who administers sanctions based on the UCI Medical Rules. 

On the second rest day at the Tour de France, Geraint Thomas was in a relaxed mood at the Ineos Grenadiers press conference. 

Speaking to the media, the Welshman explained that he was relying on Saturday’s final individual time trial to take back time on those ahead of him. Thomas currently sits third in the overall standings, and admitted that taking on Tadej Pogačar was a difficult task.

Thomas said: “I think with the TT coming up, I’m fairly confident that you know, I can get some decent time on the other guys. With Tadej, it’s hard, you know, he’s incredible. Yeah sure, he cracked one day before, so if we continue to race full gas you never know what could happen.” 

He added that he would be mindful to "take my f**king gilet off" in the final TT, something he forgot to do in the opening test in Copenhagen. 

The 2018 champion explained that this year’s Tour has been ridden at a particularly fast tempo, meaning that racing has advanced since the days of Team Sky. Thomas noted that with his experience in the peloton, other riders have approached him asking what’s going on?

Thomas added: “Fabio Jakobsen came up to me yesterday and said, ‘hey G, with your experience can you explain something to me? It’s a sprint day yet we’ve got one guy in the breakaway with the green jersey, with another guy, what the hell is going on?’ 

Admitting that the race has been intense, Thomas explained that when Pogačar was in the yellow jersey, he felt the race was a lot less controlled. However, with Jonas Vingegaard now in the overall lead and Jumbo-Visma yesterday losing two riders, Thomas explained that he feels things may now be different. 

"IT'S JUST BEEN CRAZY" 

The Ineos Grenadiers leader said: “I think that’s just kind of how the race is, you know, it’s just been crazy. Although I think when UAE had the jersey it was a lot less controlled, I think Jumbo has been a lot more prominent.

"Especially when they had a full complement, it might be different now. UAE tended to just let the race happen, then after an hour and a half, two hours they’d just start riding.” 

Looking back to the days of Team Sky, Thomas noted that the team would look to control the action from the start on a daily basis and admitted that Jumbo-Visma are operating in a similar style. 

“They [Jumbo-Visma], kind of ride in a style like we used to. There is definitely a change in the way we race now though, attacks are starting from longer out. It’s exciting though and good to be a part of” Thomas added. 

In past editions of the Tour de France, Thomas has been hit by bad luck being caught up in crashes that have then impacted on the rest of his race. 

He said this year his approach to the race has changed. “In 2018, I was always obviously suffering and it was hard but I never felt like I had to ride full-gas for 5km, whereas I have here.

"The numbers are good here though, they’re some of the best numbers I’ve done, so I’d definitely say I’m feeling similar [to 2018]. It’s hard to compare four years ago, but I’d say I’m on a similar level.” 

Looking ahead to Paris and his current third place, Thomas explained that dislodging both Vingegaard and Pogačar was a big ask. The Welshman also refused to rule out any potential collaboration with Pogačar to attack Vingegaard.

“It’s certainly going to be difficult, I’ve got two incredibly strong riders in front of me but we have to keep believing as a team, and we’re going to hopefully try and make the most of anything and race the best we can,” Thomas said. 

He added: “As I’ve said, it’s not like he [Pogačar] is going to be ringing me up and we’re going to make a plan tonight. Once you’re on the road, if a situation comes where you know it works for both of us, it’s just like any other race, of course you could. It’s not like a vendetta against Jonas [Vingegaard] or Jumbo, it’s bike racing and if a situation works for both of you then yeah, definitely we’d work together.”

When asked about the threat of Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) on the top five in the standings, Thomas explained that the Colombian would be a threat in the Pyrenees but that he was trying to focus further ahead.

The Welshman concluded: “I think the Pyrenees is going to be exciting, but like I said before, I’ve still got the TT up my sleeve so to speak and that’s a bit of a bonus I think. I’ll just take my f*****g gilet off.” 

Nairo Quintana has become the latest pro rider to call for a ban on ketones, saying that they should be added to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned list, which would be "better" for cyclists.

The Colombian Arkéa-Samsic rider spoke to press in his home country, telling MARCAthis week that he only believed in using "everything that is natural".

“For ketones, as many people call them, the more they ban them, the better for us,” Quintana said. “I agree with full-body health and with everything that is natural, and that’s my opinion.”

In recent years the use of ketones by the pro peloton has proved controversial, with some teams admitting to using them, while some riders have spoken out against them. 

Their use is not allowed for teams that are part of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC), which notably does not include some of the biggest WorldTour squads, including Ineos Grenadiers, Jumbo-Visma, and UAE Team Emirates

Guillaume Martin, Arnaud Démare and Romain Bardet have all called for their restrictions. Last year, Thibaut Pinot said that he was shocked that young athletes could be tempted by their use. All these riders, including Quintana, are members of teams that are part of the MPCC.

Quintana has looked back to his best this year, winning a stage and the overall at both the Tour de la Provence and the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var.

In 2020, he and his brother Dayer, also an Arkéa rider, were questioned by police while two other people were arrested and later released after their team hotel was raided as part of a doping investigation during the Tour de France.

The Colombian also spoke about the danger of time trial bikes, following recent comments by Chris Froome. The Israel-Premier Tech rider said that time trials should be raced on road bikes to improve safety.

“They cannot be prohibited or changed,” Quintana said of time trial bikes. “Finally, it’s the technology and that’s what’s happening. It would be like if Formula 1 cars were banned, but those [race] cars have their own roads for training and racing.”

“We must find safer routes and roads for training,” Quintana said. “Finally, each person decides where they train, and the ‘crono’ bike is a spectacle. There are time trial specialists who never win in the mountains or in the sprints, but they are very good at that discipline.

“So they cannot be banned. Technology keeps advancing and we have to be more cautious.”

5. Tour de France 2013: stage 20

A 23-year-old Quintana had already won overall titles at the Tour of the Basque Country and Volta a Catalunya during his breakthrough 2013 season, but it was at that year’s Tour de France where he really confirmed just what a prodigy he was — particularly on the penultimate stage, a mountain-top finish at Annecy-Semnoz.

Having already ridden away from the rest of the peloton with Joaquim Rodriguez and yellow jersey Chris Froome earlier on the climb, Quintana eased away from them in the final kilometre in his trademark unhurried style, dropping them and soloing to victory.

It was a ride that at once sealed a second-place on GC at what was his debut Tour, proved he could maintain his form deep into the back end of a Grand Tour, and had the ability to out-climb even the great Chris Froome. 

4. Tour de France 2019: stage 18

Even in the years since 2017, during which time he has ceased to be the elite Grand Tour contender he once was, Quintana has still been able to pull the occasional sensational climbing performance out of the bag. 

Best of all was his ride to win the first Alpine stage of the 2019 Tour de France. Starting the day far down on GC having lost time in the Pyrenees, Quintana was allowed to get into an early break, and capitalised on the opportunity magnificently, riding away from the rest halfway up the famous Col du Galibier, then descending to the finish at Valloire to win by over 1-30 ahead of Romain Bardet in second-place.  

The result catapulted him back up to seventh on GC, and although he wasn’t able to move higher in the following stages, this ride alone was a great showcase for his resilient attitude and ability to bounce back. 

3. Tirreno-Adriatico 2015: stage five

Riders who come from outside of cycling’s traditional European heartlands can sometimes be unfairly stereotyped as wilting in tough weather conditions, but no-one could accuse Quintana of doing so when he battled through a blizzard to win the queen stage of the 2015 Tirreno-Adriatico. 

As someone from a high-altitude (and, therefore, often cold climate) area in Colombia, Quintana proved to be far more robust when the snow started falling than the likes of Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali, who could not respond when he shot up the road on the slopes of the Monte Terminillo. 

There are few sights in cycling more stirring than a rider emerging from the fog of a horrendous day to take victory at the top of a mountain, and the fact the result also set Quintana up for overall victory made it extra special. 

2. Vuelta a España 2016: overall victory

As a pure climber with no sprint finish, a weak time trial and no interest in any of the Classics, it really is a remarkable achievement that Quintana has managed to reach a half-century of wins. 

It’s his prolific record in winning the overall titles of stage races that is largely responsible for him accumulating such a total — 19 of those 50 wins, to be precise, a huge amount that must surely make him a contender to be the greatest stage racer of his generation.

Of those 19 stage race wins, the 2016 Vuelta a España is arguably the highlight. To win and overcome nemesis Chris Froome at the very peak of his powers, it was not enough for him to just be on his best climbing form (which he certainly was, as showcased by his win atop Lagos de Covadonga on stage 10). He also needed the bravery, foresight and imagination to launch an early attack on stage 15 that would catch Froome napping, a move that would turn out to be the decisive moment of the race, and epitomised an ambitious attitude and unwillingness to settle for second-best that has helped Quintana win so much over the years. 

1. Giro d’Italia 2014: stage 16

If there’s a single win that encapsulates everything that’s great about Quintana, it’s this one at the 2014 Giro d’Italia. It showcased his love of long-range attacks, given he made his move the best part of 70km from the finish; his habit of rising to the occasion of the sport’s most iconic venues, on this occasion the Passo di Stelvio; his hardness in the face of horrible weather; and, of course, his devastating climbing speed, in the way he dropped all of his breakaway companions on the final climb to Val Martello. 

The win was not without controversy, with confusion reigning as to whether or not the descent on which Quintana broke clear had been neutralised, but in any case his willingness to commit in such dangerous conditions revealed a ruthless streak to Quintana belied by his understated manner off the bike. 

He ultimately put an enormous 4-11 into pink jersey rival Rigoberto Urán that day, enough to turn the race on its head and set him up for overall victory — a title that to this day remains his most prestigious. 

For the second time already this season Nairo Quintana has won a final mountain stage to claim the overall victory of a stage race.

The Colombian has followed up his win at the Tour de la Provence a week ago with victory at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, attacking on the final climb of the race to seal the title. 

Quintana had jumped on a move initiated by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) before going solo, managing his effort to cross the line more than a minute ahead of second and third place Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) and Pinot.

Tim Wellens, who had been in the leader's jersey, tied on time with Quintana before the final stage, finished in the Pinot group, hanging on for second overall with Martin third.

Meanwhile, Brit James Shaw secured a top 10 overall finish in his first race back at WorldTour level with EF Education EasyPost, 3-56 in arrears to Quintana. 

The rest of the top 10 was filled by the likes of Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Bauke Mollema, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (both Trek-Segafredo) and Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies).

Quintana's two stage race wins this year reflect his early 2020 season, when he also won both races, before taking a stage of Paris-Nice prior to the coronavirus lockdown.

Results

Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var 2022, stage three: Villefranche-sur-Mer to Blausasc

1. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa-Samsic, in 2-55-17
2. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis, at 1-21
3. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 1-30
4. Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) TotalEnergies
5. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, both at same time
6. Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ, at 1-37
7. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Ag2r Citroën, at 2-25
8. Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Fra) Ag2r Citroën, at same time
9. Rémy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
10. Romain Combaud (Fra) DSM, both at same time

Final general classification

1. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa-Samsic, in 10-56-01
2. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 1-30
3. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis, at 1-48
4. Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 2-50
5. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 2-52
6. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo, at 2-55
7. Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) TotalEnergies, at 2-57
8. Andreas Kron (Den) Lotto-Soudal, at 3-52
9. James Shaw (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost, at 3-56
10. Kevin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ, at 3-58 

We are now less than a week away from the first WorldTour race of the year, the UAE Tour, and the racing is hotting up across Europe and in the Middle East.

Some riders are still yet to race on the road for their team yet this year, with the likes of Primož Roglič, Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar conspicuous by their absence, but some stars have already been out performing in their new kit.

At the Tour of Oman, Jan Hirt of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert was victorious in the desert, while Nairo Quintana looked like he used to winning the overall at the Tour de la Provence. Meanwhile, there was a slew of Spanish one-day races, including a brand new gravel race, which was all reasonably interesting. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl predictably kept winning, but there were other interesting stories.

More racing begins tomorrow with the Ruta del Sol and the Volta ao Algarve, but for now here is what we have learned from the latest tranche of stage and one-day events.

The smaller teams are seriously on it this year

This year will see some movement in the WorldTour, with new licences being awarded at the end of the year for 2023-2025. Teams are ranked on the basis of their 10 highest scoring riders at all UCI races, so every event matters.

Based on last year's UCI team rankings, Cofidis and Lotto-Soudal were in the 'drop zone', while Alpecin-Fenix and Arkéa-Samsic were two ProTeams which could be promoted. 

Those latter two already gain access to WorldTour races this year thanks to their ranking, but they might look to gain prowess through a step up. Norwegian team Uno-X have also expressed an interest in a WorldTour slot.

All this means that there is a real battle for UCI points, and a lot of the less successful teams of 2021 are already winning this year. Lotto-Soudal already have five wins, almost half their overall total from last season, while Cofidis, Arkéa, Uno-X and Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert have all been winning races.

Even a race like the Tour of Antalya matters, with Uno-X gaining 125 points for their general classification victory there. Some signings could prove crucial, with Bryan Coquard already winning 77 points for his new Cofidis team through two victories so far. Domenico Pozzovivo signing for Intermarché could be the canny transfer the team needs in order to remain at the top.

We will have to wait and see whether this intense racing for UCI points keeps up throughout the season or dies out - success at the beginning of the season is no guarantee of success throughout the season.

Nairo Quintana has still got it

Nairo Quintana turned 32 earlier this month, but the Colombian won the Tour de la Provence with an effort on the final day that seemed to turn back the years.

It is the second time that Quintana has won the Tour for Arkéa-Samsic, and the French ProTeam will be grateful to have a proven climber like that still on the books. 

On the slopes of the Montagne de Lure he powered away from Julian Alaphilippe of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, and ended up more than half a minute ahead of his chasers.

It is the highest-ranked race Quintana has won since 2020, and will surely give him a boost of confidence ahead of a crucial year. 2022 is the last year of his contract with Arkéa, and the diminutive Colombian will be hoping to prove that he still means business. Last week he suggested that he could make a return to Movistar.

Mark Cavendish can still challenge and win races

This time last year many were writing Mark Cavendish off, with the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sprinter not having won a race since 2018. However, four stage wins at the Tour of Turkey in April saw him embark on a remarkable run which led to his astonishing performance at the Tour de France last July.

This year he has got off to a flying start, with second on stage one of the Tour of Oman and first on stage two making it his best opening to a season since 2013, when he won on his opening day.

He might have ended the race in disappointing fashion, with a sixth place finish and falling out of contention for the points jersey, but his win will remind everyone of his prowess. This is particularly important because of his teammate Fabio Jakobsen's form - the Dutchman has won two races so far this year - and his likely selection for the Tour squad.

Cavendish looks likely to head to the Giro d'Italia at the moment, but as long as he keeps challenging, he can keep his Tour dream alive.

Alexey Lutsenko is good at riding on gravel

Alexey Lutsenko triumphed at the inaugural Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior on Tuesday, with the Kazakh rider mastering the tricky gravel conditions to dominate, finishing almost a minute ahead of second-placed Tim Wellens.

The Astana Qazaqstan rider has form on gravel - he won the first Serenissima Gravel race in Italy late last year - but this was an exhibition from him. He twice forced a decisive split on the off-road sectors, his second with 28km to go the winning move.

While others looked at sea on the rocky gravel of Jaén, Lutsenko looked very much at home. He is not currently down to ride Strade Bianche, possibly to the relief of other riders, but in this form he would surely do damage there.

A new gravel race is born

Sure, it might not have had a particularly exciting finalé, thanks to the efforts of Lutsenko (see above), but the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior looks like it could be here to stay as a great race.

While Spain has an abundance of great stage races, from Catalunya to Pais Vasco via the Ruta del Sol, it has lacked great one-day races, apart from San Sebastian. 

This new part-gravel race could be the one to change all that. It is hard, picturesque, and the level can only get better. Strade Bianche has only been around since 2007 and at WorldTour level since 2017, and is already touted as a race ready to be the next Monument, so why not hold a similar race in Spain?

Among the millions of olive trees in this part of Andalusia the race looked great. It could quite quickly become a cult classic like the Breton race Tro-Bro Léon, and will only improve with time.

Ineos Grenadiers can win in more than one way

With the re-signing of Elia Viviani, Ineos Grenadiers showed that they want to win more races, more than their staple fair of GC wins. This might prove wise as the need to diversify away from stage racing increases in the absence of Egan Bernal and if Tadej Pogačar continues to dominate.

Filippo Ganna is good at time trials, we all knew that, but his early-season form might the sign of something new, as he has suggested that he might target some one-day races this season.

Meanwhile, the British squad are heading to the Volta ao Algarve with a team filled with a variety of winners, from Ethan Hayter to Tom Pidcock via Dani Martínez. They might finally be properly breaking out of their boring stage-racing mould of old.

Never give up on the dream of winning

Jan Hirt went 5 years and seven months, 2,048 days, between winning general classification titles (thanks to @ammattipyoraily on Twitter for that). The Czech rider won the Tour of Austria in 2016, and then won the Tour of Oman this week.

Intermarché's Hirt had not won a single race in the years in between, so he must have been relieved to cross the line in the red leader's jersey on the final stage. 

Another rider for the Walloon team, Alexander Kristoff, is much more used to winning, he has done it 82 times in his career so far. However, the pressure was on at his new team after he moved from UAE-Team Emirates, and the Norwegian delivered, winning the Clasica de Almeria. Never write him off. 

Nairo Quintana has not ruled out a return to Movistar next year as he enters the third and final season of his current deal with Arkéa-Samsic, the team he joined after leaving the Spanish squad he had previously spent eight years with.

“We experienced a lot of beautiful things and one has to consider everything,” Quintana told Colombian media on a Zoom call about whether he could one day return to Movistar, with whom he won both the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.

There is no lingering resentment between Quintana or Movistar, the rider says, and a good relationship leaves the door open to a possible return to a WorldTour outfit in 2023.

“At the time we shook hands with [team boss] Eusebio Unzué and we ended things having good relations, and right now, who knows. It’s not that I don’t like them, and I have good relations with a lot of them and we all have very good memories," he said.

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Of course, Quintana is for now focused on his 2022 season, and will be after the big result that has so far eluded him at the French squad.

Originally, in 2020, he got off to a flying start, winning the Tour de La Provence and Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, before a stage win at Paris-Nice. After the outset of the coronavirus pandemic he's found wins much harder to come by, however, and only recorded two minor victories in 2021.

“Right now, I am concentrated on ending the season, to do it well, and to be happy on the bike,” Quintana said, moving the conversation on from talk of 2023. 

“Later, if it’s in one [team] or another, or even the same, the most important thing to think about is what’s best and to sign a contract where I have the most tranquility to do things the right way.”

Nairo Quintana is apparently set to target the Tour de France and Vuelta a España in 2022, skipping the Giro d'Italia despite earlier hints at a Giro-Tour double.

The Colombian's manager, Giuseppe Acquadro, has been speaking on his rider's upcoming season in conversation with the Spanish journalist Javier Ares, who gave the latest update on his rider's plans for his 11th season in the WorldTour.

Quintana was always set to target the Tour de France, he has said, having completed the Grand Tour eight times and finished on the podium three times, and the 31-year-old is still a big name for his French Arkéa-Samsic team to have on the start list at their home race.

Despite hints that the multiple Grand Tour winner could be returning to the Giro d'Italia for the first time since 2017, having only raced the Italian Grand Tour twice - his debut appearance in 2014 seeing him take the maglia rosa - his plans have now changed, according to Acquadro. Arkéa-Samsic are also yet to formally announce their rider's Grand Tour intentions for the coming year.

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Despite the 2022 Giro course not containing an overwhelming number of time trial kilometres, the opening TT of 9.2km is followed by a closing, climbing TT in Verona of 17.1km, Quintana is instead expected to stick to his regular Tour/Vuelta double, which he has undertaken four times during his career.

Quintana's resurgent 2020 saw him win two French stage races before taking the final stage of Paris-Nice, was cut short by the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. The Colombian's Tour de France that year was beset by crashes, while his 2021 campaign was then fairly anonymous, despite a strong finish in the autumn Italian one-day classics.

"We are good, improving every day. For the first time in a while I finished off a season in good physical shape, and now I’m motivated to work for the coming year," Quintana said at the Tour de France route presentation in Paris towards the end of last year.

"I am a GC rider," he continued. "Every year I come to the Tour with these ambitions, except 2021, when physical problems wiped them out. The route is good for us. It’s important to arrive in top condition to be able to take it on."

General manager of French second division team Arkéa-Samsic says they are "at the gates of the WorldTour" for this coming season as they look to make the step up in 2023.

The team of Colombian star Nairo Quintana will be invited to every one of the UCI WorldTour races in 2022 thanks to them finishing second in the ProTeam division this season just gone.

In 2021 it was just Alpecin-Fenix who were given an automatic invite but due to Qhubeka-NextHash's WorldTour licence being refused by the UCI it means that two teams are eligible to be riding in every one of the top tier races with Peter Sagan's TotalEnergies being invited to every WorldTour one-day race.

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Reported by Tuttobici, Emmanuel Hubert, general manager of Arkéa-Samsic, said: "We have gradually overcome many levels to arrive in 2022 at the gates of the WorldTour with the possibility of participating to the entire calendar of the first division teams thanks to the second place in the ProTeams 2021 ranking.

"We will continue to move forward following this philosophy, because it is the right way for the team to continue growing."

Last year the team missed out on a wildcard entry to the Giro d'Italia, which Quintana was hoping to race and try and win for the first time since 2014. The Giro organisers decided to go with all Italian teams instead.

"The 2022 season promises to be a year of discovery for us and a run-up to performances that will be necessary to be definitively one of the 18 teams that will be part of the WorldTour in 2023. This is our common and shared goal," Hubert added.

The team based in the French region of Brittany took 10 victories this season with two going the way of Quintana at the Vuelta Asturias along with a couple from Yorkshireman Connor Swift as well as Bretagne rider Warren Barguil.

But the highest profile win was a stage at the Volta ao Algarve from Élie Gesbert with the rider also finishing fifth overall.

Nairo Quintana has said "all of my preparation will be focused on the Tour de France" during the 2022 season after having take a year off chasing the yellow jersey/ 

Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic),  31, has had a disappointing season, with just a stage and overall win at the Vuelta a Asturias coming his way, amid a plethora of top fives, 10s and 15s.

The Colombian star managed sixth place on stage 15 of the Tour de France into Andorra behind stage winner Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), but nothing better than that at the French Grand Tour.

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Speaking to EFE after the Tour de France route was announced, Quintana said: "For me, the Tour is always the race of the year - all of my preparation will be focused on the Tour. We’ll have to talk to the directors and riders, and we’ll study the route, and then we’ll make some decisions about how we will take on the Tour."

The 2022 route does have some stages that suit Quintana perfectly, but with likely crosswinds on the opening stages in Denmark and Northern France, as well as the cobbles on stage five, it could be tough for the diminutive climber. The 40km time trial on the penultimate day of the race could also see Quintana lose a good chunk of time.

"I am a GC rider," he continued. "Every year I come to the Tour with these ambitions, except 2021, when physical problems wiped them out. The route is good for us. It’s important to arrive in top condition to be able to take it on."

He would have to go up against some huge names if he is to succeed, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) currently dominating the Tour with back-to-back wins as well as Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and potentially Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step).

But Quintana is in good spirits at the end of the 2021 season: "We are good, improving every day. For the first time in a while I finished off a season in good physical shape, and now I’m motivated to work for the coming year."

Quintana finished the 2021 season with some good results in the Italian Classics, including 10th in the Giro dell'Emilia, ninth in Milano-Torino and 11th at the final Monument of the year, Il Lombardia.

Nairo Quintana has said that he will now focus on the Tour de France after his Arkéa-Samsic team missed out on a wild card spot at the Giro d'Italia.

Quintana was hoping that he could have the Giro as his main goal for the 2021 season after not riding the Corsa Rosa since 2017, where he came second behind an inspired Tom Dumoulin. 

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In a piece by Italian site Spaziociclismo, Quintana said: "I wanted to participate in the Giro, but I respect the organisers choice. I will now focus on the Tour.

"Our team is not part of the WorldTour and is therefore dependent on wild cards.

"However, the organisation has decided to hand them out to Italian teams. I want to thank everyone for their support and this is certainly not a mental blow. I keep believing in my dreams. I now focus on other big races, such as the Tour."

Quintana took his one and only Giro title back in 2014, while his last overall success at a Grand Tour was in the 2016 Vuelta a España. Since then it hasn't been going too well for the star climber.

Injuries and a breakdown between him and the rest of the Movistar Team saw him step down to the ProTeam level of the sport with Arkéa-Samsic.

Quintana was looking in fine form in 2020 taking the overall at the Tour de la Provence and the final stage of Paris-Nice before the coronavirus shutdown. He continued that form into the Tour de France, but a crash saw his hopes of a podium, and maybe even a win, slip away.

The teams that got in ahead of Arkéa-Samsic through the wild card slots were Eolo-Kometa, Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè and Vini Zabù with Mathieu van der Poel's Alpecin-Fenix getting an automatic invite after they beat Arkéa to the top spot in the ProTeam division last year.

The Giro is set to start on May 8 in the city of Turin and make its way around the region of Piedmont for it's Gran Partenza, before heading further around the country. The route is yet to be announced.

Nairo Quintana’s team will have to redraw their 2021 schedule after being left out of this year’s Giro d’Italia. 

The organisers of the Italian Grand Tour have officially announced all of the teams that will be competing in the 104th edition in May, with Quintana’s Arkéa-Samsic squad not included on the list. 

Instead, Alpecin-Fenix have qualified to race in Italy by being the best-ranked UCI ProTeam, while wild card invitations have been extended to three Italian squads - Bardiani CSF Faizane, Eolo-Kometa and Vin Zabu. 

Quintana, winner of the 2014 Giro, hinted that he might be considering racing in Italy again this year, having competed there twice already. 

The 31-year-old previously told ciclismocolombiano.com: “We’re waiting for them to give us the okay. We hope we can have it, because it’s a race I’ve really enjoyed.

“I’ve done it twice. I was first once and second the other time. It’s a race that’s quite favourable for me.” 

Quintana stepped down from the WorldTour at the end of 2019, leaving Movistar to join second-tier squad Arkéa-Samsic. 

The decision to leave the WorldTour means Quintana now relies on invitations from race organisers to the biggest races or must qualify for a place with his team.

French outfit Arkéa are not the only team to miss out on a Giro spot, as Italian team Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec were also left off the invitations list, much to the disappointment of team boss Gianni Savio. 

Ineos Grenadiers, guaranteed a spot as a WorldTour team, have announced that their Colombian star Egan Bernal will target the Giro d’Italia this year, after he was forced to withdraw from the Tour de France due to back problems in 2020. 

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Sir Dave Brailsford, team principal at Ineos Grenadiers, said he believes Bernal need to rediscover his love of racing, suggesting the 24-year-old may have become too focused on results. 

Nairo Quintana’s team boss says he trusts the Colombian, as the doping investigating launched at the Tour de France continues.  

Shortly after the 2020 Tour finished in Paris, news emerged that police had searched the rooms of several riders at the Arkéa-Samsic team hotel in the final week of the race, and had discovered “many health products including drugs and especially a method that could be qualified as doping.” 

Nairo Quintana and his brother Dayer, also an Arkéa rider, were questioned by police while  two other people were arrested and later released.  

Arkéa-Samsic team manager Emmanuel Hubert has now spoken about the incident for the first time, in an interview with the Ouest France newspaper.  

Hubert said: “We have nothing to be ashamed of, us, in any case. So that's why we immediately made ourselves available to the police. Today, I don't know much more. The only thing I can see is that everyone is free, and everyone has the right to practice their profession.

“But even the athletes, Nairo, Dayer, they don't understand. They went to be interviewed, they were released, they were not even in police custody.

“It’s under preliminary investigation, and it is therefore necessary to know that we do not have access to any part of the file. As the police told us, life goes on. I want to know the bottom of the matter.” 

After news of the police raids came to light, the prosecutor for the environment and public health office in Marseille, Dominique Laurens, said that a number of health products were seized in the searches including “a method that could be qualified as doping.”

She added that two unnamed were being held for having potential doping products, while the investigation revolved around “a very limited number of riders, as well as their close entourage.” 

But in a statement Quintana, who finished 17th overall in this year’s Tour, denied any wrongdoing and said the substances found by officers were vitamin supplements. 

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The 30-year-old Colombian star said: “The French police carried out an operation in the hotel where my team was staying on Wednesday, September 16 in Méribel, after the stage of the Tour de France had finished.

“On that day the authorities entered my room and seized vitamin supplements that were perfectly legal, although perhaps not familiar to the French authorities. This is the main reason why it has taken time to clear up everything that happened.

 “To avoid any doubt, I would like to confirm that no doping substances were found.”

When asked if he has any doubts about Quintana, Hubert said: “I have no doubts.” 

Hubert added that Quintana will still be in the team next season “unless something is proven.” 

Nairo Quintana has responded to the Tour de France 2021 route, saying he is excited about the two ascents of Mont Ventoux.

The Arkéa-Samsic rider is also wary of the two time trial stages, as he has often lost time against the clock. 

On Sunday (November 1), the Tour de France organisers unveiled the route for next year’s race, which will depart from Brittany and will feature ascents of Ventoux, the Col de la Colombiere and a return to Tignes after the 2019 landslides.  

Quintana said: “This 108th edition of the Tour de France reintroduces individual time trials, with two stages of this type scheduled, this implies that we will have to carry out very good preparation for the time trial in order to be able to tackle these two as well as possible.

“These will be very important stages for the general classification in the same way as the mountain stages, and in particular that of Ventoux, a pass that I obviously like, which will undoubtedly play a major role during this Tour de France, from same as the stages arriving at the top in the Alps and the Pyrenees.”

Quintana, a three-time podium finisher in the Tour, has struggled with injury this year and ended his season early due to knee problems. 

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The 30-year-old added: “I am currently diligently pursuing my post-operative rehabilitation of my two knees. I work diligently in the company of physiotherapists, with a view to the 2021 season. 

“My goal remains the general classification, to try to get a podium even though I know that the competition is more and more fierce, it is a new opportunity for me to achieve this performance, and 2021 will be a better season physically for me to try to reach that goal.”  

Nairo Quintana has responded after French authorities launched a doping investigation into him and Arkéa-Samsic at the Tour de France. 

News emerged that environment and public health officers had searched the Arkéa-Samsic hotel during the final week of the Tour, reportedly confiscating injection equipment, while Quintana and his brother Dayer were voluntarily interviewed by police, and two staff members taken into custody. 

But in a statement released late on Tuesday night (September 22) Quintana, who finished 17th overall in this year’s Tour, denied any wrongdoing and said the substances found by officers were vitamin supplements. 

The 30-year-old Colombian star said: "The French police carried out an operation in the hotel where my team was staying on Wednesday, September 16 in Méribel, after the stage of the Tour de France had finished.

"On that day the authorities entered my room and seized vitamin supplements that were perfectly legal, although perhaps not familiar to the French authorities. This is the main reason why it has taken time to clear up everything that happened.

“To avoid any doubt, I would like to confirm that no doping substances were found."

After news of the police raids came to light, the prosecutor for the environment and public health office in Marseille, Dominique Laurens, said that a number of health products were seized in the searches including “a method that could be qualified as doping.”

She added that two unnamed were being held for having potential doping products, while the investigation revolved around “a very limited number of riders, as well as their close entourage.” 

The two people being held in custody have since been released, but the investigation continues.

Arkéa-Samsic general manager Emanuel Hubert has also confirmed the search, but distanced the team from the investigation.

In his statement, Quintana added: "I would also like to clear up a misunderstanding - neither during the recent Tour nor during any other previous race I have never consulted assistants or staff who were not part of the team. I do not have, and have never had, anything to hide 

“Yesterday, by appointment of the French authorities and voluntarily I appeared before the public prosecutor's office to answer each of their questions clearly and with a clear conscience.” 

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He added: “I, without fear, will continue to be strong, I will defend the truth and I will continue on my way, even if the crowd, at times, takes another direction.”  

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Nairo Quintana’s hotel room was searched by police during the final week of the Tour de France, according to French media. 

 A search is believed to have been carried out by environment and public health officers while Quintana was staying at the Arkéa-Samsic team hotel in Les Allues, near Méribel, on Wednesday (September 16). 

According to the reports, the officers from the  Central Office for the Fight Against Attacks on the Environment and Public Health (OCLAESP) searched Quintana’s room, along with rooms of his brother Dayer and fellow Colombian Winner Anacona.

The officers also searched the rooms of the masseurs and the team cars. 

News emerged from French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, with reports suggesting it was part of a “preliminary investigation,” but it is unclear what the officers were looking for. 

The search was also reportedly carried out without the French anti-doping authorities being consulted. 

French newspaper L’Equipe has since reported Arkéa-Samsic team manager Emmanuel  Hubert has confirmed the search had taken place, but said it revolved around Quintana specifically and not the team itself. 

Quintana had another disappointing Tour de France after looking so strong early in 2020. 

Having won two stage races back to back before the coronavirus break, Quintana was back amongst the favourites for the Tour but his preparation was upended when he was hit by a car while training. 

He was then caught in crashes at the Tour and fell out of contention for the overall on Grand Colombier. 

Quintana eventually slipped back to 17th overall and left the race without a stage victory. 

The former Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia champion is scheduled to race the World Championships in Imola later this week, but his schedule for the rest of 2020 has not yet been confirmed.

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Quintana and Arkéa-Samsic are yet to release a statement on the search.  

Nairo Quintana looks to be out of the top-10 at the Tour de France 2020, after being dropped on the first climb of stage 17.

Quintana, who had already lost time on stage 15, began to lose contact with 14km of the brutal Col de la Madeleine, 76km from the finish and still with the Col de la Loze to come.  

The Arkéa-Samsic rider looked to back to his best early in 2020, winning back-to-back stage races in France before the coronavirus break, which catapulted him back to favourite status after struggling in the Tour since 2016.  

But Quintana’s preparation was compromised in the weeks leading up to the Tour when his was hit by a car while training at home in Colombia. 

While the 30-year-old didn’t suffer any serious injuries, he had to spend a week away from the bike to recover after the fall, which has taken its toll on his 2020 ambitions. 

Despite crashing on the opening stage in awful weather conditions in Nice and falling again on stage 13 to Puy Mary, Quintana was still sat comfortably in the top-10 overall heading into stage 15 to Grand Colombier.

But under the pressure set by Jumbo-Visma, Quintana cracked on the Colombier with 13km to the summit, losing almost four minutes by the finish. 

The bad news continued for Quintana on the huge GC day on stage 17 to the Col de la Loze as the bunch thinned out on the Madeleine, with Quintana losing contact before the rest of the overall contenders.

Speaking ahead of the stage, Quintana knew he was in for a rough ride: “The final is spectacular and I’ll surely have to suffer because I’m not at 100 per cent after my falls.

“I won’t be enjoying myself much.”

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Having started the day in 10th place, 5-34 off the race lead, Quintana had lost nine minutes by the time he was descending the Madeleine and virtually slipping a long way back on GC.  

Drama struck early on stage 13 of the Tour de France 2020 as yellow jersey contenders Nairo Quintana and Romain Bardet were caught in a crash, with Bauke Mollema also being forced to abandon.

The fall happened with around 90km of the tough climbing stage left to race when riders near the front of the bunch fell on a gentle left hand turn on the road to Puy Mary. 

It soon became clear that AG2R La Mondiale leader Bardet and Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), fourth and fifth on general classification, were involved in fall.

Trek-Segafredo’s Mollema was also involved in the crash, with reports suggesting he had pain in his right arm and shoulder and had a bloodied face. 

The fall resulted in Mollema abandoning the 2020 Tour, forcing him to give up his 13th place on general classification. 

Aerial footage of the crash shows a number of riders falling on the turn and riding into a ditch at the side of the road. 

Both Bardet and Quintana were quickly able to jump back on their bikes and were paced back into the peloton by their team-mates, but it’s not currently clear if they suffered any injuries. 

Trek-Segafredo said on Twitter: “Unfortunately Bauke Mollema was caught up in the last crash. 

"He has abandoned and we will report the extent of his injuries when we know more.”   

Mollema had been riding in support of his team leader Richie Porte but had still been riding well overall himself, sitting 2-31 off the race lead on the start of stage 13 and around 50 seconds away from the top-10. 

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The Dutchman has been a Grand Tour contender himself in the past, finishing third in the 2011 Vuelta a España. He also has three top-10 finishes in the Tour de France, including a sixth-place finish in 2013. 

Nairo Quintana will not settle for his current fifth place on GC at the Tour de France, his sports director saying the Colombian is too strong not to try for better.

Despite losing 11 seconds on stage nine, missing the front selection of GC contenders, the Arkéa-Samsic climber is only 32 seconds down on Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), having weathered the first week well.

"I had a bad day, but we managed to limit the losses - 11 seconds isn’t that much," Quintana said of his stage nine performance. "After the first week, after everything that has happened so far, with the wind, the crashes, the mountains, the overall balance right now is very good.

"I was able to stay with the best on most days. The sensations that I have are good, and there’s still a lot of Tour ahead of us."

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Quintana has admiration for Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), the young Slovenian boldly attacking his more experienced rivals, and the rider who kept him off the podium at the 2019 Vuelta a España.

"Right now, all of the favorites are very close. It’s true that Pogačar has a bit more right now. He’s daring and he has the legs to attack. He’s shown himself to be the strongest in the mountains right now. Fortunately, we gained a bit of time on him on the flats, which means the differences [to him] are not that big," Quintana said.

"We saw how he raced in the Vuelta last year and he’s doing the same thing here. When the leaders are left without helpers, he attacks with a force that very few can follow. That creates doubt among the others. He’s shown he’s strong and that he’s not afraid to attack. We still don’t know what he can do in three weeks at the Tour."

As for sports director Yvon Ledanois, he's not ready to settle for just a high place in the general classification.

"We’re not happy with fifth place. That’s not what we came for," he said. "We’ve seen some interesting things that make us believe that we can go even better in the GC. Seeing how strong Nairo is right now, settling just for fifth would be a bit of a disappointment."

The Frenchman reckons Quintana's experience will come into play as the race progresses, and that if he manages to maintain his current form he could end up in a place to try for yellow.

"Anyone can have a bad day, but Nairo and his experience, if he doesn’t have a bad moment, could let him race for the outright victory," Ledanois said.

"Everything is going to be decided in three mountain stage and the time trial - that’s when you have to be strong."

 The first stage of the 2020 Tour de France has been a hectic day of racing as countless crashes hindered the peloton in awful weather.

Heavy rain has battered the peloton on the roads around Nice during the opening day of racing, with multiple riders going down in the treacherous conditions. 

So far, Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) and Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) are among the most notable riders to hit the ground during the 156km stage in Nice.

 A video circulating online show’s Quintana’s absolutely rapid recovery from his crash, which happened on a slick road during a right hand turn, as the Colombian was back on his bike and riding again before the peloton had even passed him.  

The crash happened at the front of the bunch as a Bora-Hansgrohe rider accelerated in the corner and lost his back wheel, with his bike sliding out towards Quintana. 

Quintana’s front wheel lost group and he was sent sliding to the floor. Luckily he was uninjured. 

But before viewers had the chance to figure out what had happened or who had crashed, Quintana had jumped up, put his chain back on and was on the bike and pedalling before the remains of the peloton had even passed him. 

The opening stage of the Tour has been absolute chaos due to the dangerous conditions caused by heavy downpours and slippery road surfaces. 

Sivakov, riding his first Tour de France, crashed around 50km into the stage and found himself chasing back onto the peloton, while also trying to get attention from the medical car. 

The Russian had blood dripping from his elbow.  He then crashed again while chasing back on. 

Julian Alaphilippe also crashed during the day and was forced to wait at the side of the road for a new bike as the disc brake on his first wheel appeared to be damaged. 

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After a long chase, Alaphilippe was finally able to rejoin the peloton with around 80km left to race.  

Connor Swift has become the third confirmed Brit to ride the 2020 Tour de France, racing in support of Nairo Quintana. 

The 24-year-old has continued to deliver on his potential, having won the British National Championships in 2018 and stepping up to join ProTeam Arkéa-Samsic last season.

Since joining the French squad, Swift has become a key rider supporting Quintana in stage races, assisting him to overall victory in the 2020 Tour de La Provence and at Paris-Nice. 

Quintana and Arkéa-Samsic will be focussed on the general classification at the Tour, after the Colombian joined the team from Movistar at the start of the season. 

Sports director at Arkéa, Sébastien Hinault, said: “Clément Russo and Connor Swift will discover the Tour de France and the three-week races, but both have given proof of their solidity during this season during major races. Connor on the Paris-Nice roads by protecting Nairo during the stages, and Clément by doing a very big job in favour of his leaders on the roads of the recent Critérium du Dauphiné.”

Swift, a former Madison Genesis rider, racked up a number of promising results early in his career before his breakthrough result in the National Championships two years ago, where he beat WorldTour riders like Owain Doull and Ben Swift. 

He was then signed to Arkéa-Samsic from October 2019 to bolster André Greipel’s sprint train.

While Greipel’s time at Arkéa was short-lived, the team then signed Quintana for 2020 in the hopes of taking the yellow jersey. 

In July, Swift then extended his contract with the squad after impressing management during his first few months. 

Arkea-Samsic’s general manager Emmanuel Hubert said at the time: “This year he added a new dimension to his talent by protecting and replacing his leader Nairo Quintana, among others, on the stages of plains and borders of Paris-Nice, but also the sprint finishes by being part of the Nacer Bouhanni train, which proves the extent of the talent of this young rider.” 

Quintana has two Grand Tour victories to his name the 2014 Giro d’Italia and the 2016 Vuelta a España, but the Tour de France has always eluded him. 

Arkéa-Samsic squad for the Tour de France 2020 

Nairo Quintana (Col) 

Warren Barguil (Fra)

Connor Swift (GBr) 

Winner Anacona (Col) 

Dayer Quintana (Col)
Diego Rosa (Ita) 

Maxime Bouet (Fra)

Clément Russo (Fra) 

Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) took victory in dominant fashion up on the lunar landscape of Mont Ventoux with a very impressive ride from Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) in second place and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) in third, at the 2020 edition of the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge 2020.

After an excellent display in the Route d'Occitanie a week before this race, where he finished only behind two Ineos riders of Egan Bernal and Pavel Sivakov, he was one of the big favourites to take the day and he did just that.

The peloton caught the last of the break just as they started the final ascent which saw multiple attacks from riders, with some sticking for a long period, but it was the Russian champion, Vlasov, who set off on a stinging move to bridge the gap and then kick on to victory.

Behind, big names who were out of form battled for the minor places, with Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Miguel Ángel López (Astana) and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) battling it out.

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How it happened

The riders started in Vaison-la-Romaine and after 179km they finish at the top of Mont Ventoux, but it is not the usual ascent, they ride up a different side that takes us up to Chalet Reynard but from another angle.

The original break was made up of eight riders including Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Carmelo Urbano (Caja Rural), Jose Gonçalves (Nippo Delko One Provence), Juan Felipe Osorio (Burgos-BH), Alessandro Monaco (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane), Garikoitz Bravo (Fundacion Ciclista Euskadi), Marlon Gaillard (Total Direct Energie) and Robert Scott (Canyon DHB p/b Soreen).

The break broke down over the first passage up to Chalet Reynard with Bravo going solo, but his time gap was being edged away as the kilometres ticked down thanks to Astana, Arkéa-Samsic and Cofidis as they got closer to the mountain.

Bravo had just 30 seconds at the base of the final climb as the race was very nicely set up for possible early attacks, with the lone leader caught with 17km to go.

Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural) and Simone Petilli (Circus-Wanty Gobert) set off on the attack with 15km to go and pulled out a decent gap early on but was controlled by the peloton. The Caja Rural rider then went pop and dropped back to the group with Petilli still out in front, but it wasn't long before he was also brought back and dropped.

Edward Ravasi (UAE Team Emirates) was the next man to kick out with Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) trying to follow and he slowly bridged over with 10km to go. Ravasi was there to support Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) but the Italian was dropped by Latour.

One of the biggest surprises was that López was dropped out of the back, he did make it back but Astana were fully focused on Russian champion, Vlasov instead as Trek took over pacing with 8km to go.

At 7km to go, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) took off with a vicious acceleration, looking very impressive as he looked to bridge the now 12-second gap to Latour, which he did with ease.

Behind, Aru tried a move with Harold Tejada (Astana) going with him but Trek continued setting the pace for Richie Porte and they were brought back with 6.5km to go.

Martin hit Latour with attack after attack which pushed the AG2R rider to his limit and was dropped by his compatriot. He pulled out gap of 20 seconds and looked very cool and collected as he continued on up the mountain.

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With 4.5km to go, Astana's main man, Vlasov attacked and sailed straight across to a struggling Latour. Behind, Porte and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) pushed across as Vlasov dropped Latour who was now going backwards.

But then, Porte dropped the pre-race favourite, Quintana, who is still recovering from being hit by a car in Colombia.

Vlasov breezed up to Martin and went straight past the Frenchman but then they started looking at each other, which almost allowed Porte back up to them before Vlasov attacked again. Martin managed to hold on for a few more moments but then lost touch with 3km to go.

It was the young Russian who eventually took victory on Ventoux as he held off Porte in the final kilometres. It was a very impressive ride with Porte finishing 18-seconds down in second and Martin making it to third.

Results

Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge 2020: Vaison-la-Romaine to Mont Ventoux (179km)

1. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana, in 4-56-39

2. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo, at 18s

3. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis, at 59s

4. Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, at 1-29

5. Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-38

6. Harold Alfonso Tejada (Col) Astana, at 1-43

7. Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-51

8. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa-Samsic, at 1-57

9. Jesús Herrada (Esp) Cofidis, at 2-15

10. Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 2-32

Cycling fans have more reason to be excited, as Colombia’s biggest stars have successfully made it back to Europe ready to race.

The coronavirus pandemic had caused concerns that pros from outside Europe may struggle to meet up with their teams in time for the season restart, as air travel has been restricted between many countries.

But despite the limitations on travel between Colombia and Europe, pro riders were given special permission to board a flight from the capital Bogota to Madrid, Spain, in order to re-join their teams ready for WorldTour racing from August 1.

The Avianca Airlines flight, which left Colombia on Sunday (July 18) and landed on Monday (July 20), carried a number of Grand Tour leaders and sprint stars, including Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic).

Minister of sport in Colombia, Ernesto Lucena Barrero said: "Thanks to teamwork, led by the national government, through the ministry, as well as the Foreign Ministry, the embassies of Spain and Colombia and the support of Avianca, our athletes will be able to come to Europe to meet the competition schedules, something fundamental in its development and process, altered in this first semester by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The flight carried Bernal, Quintana, Rigaberto Urán (EF Pro Cycling), Miguel Ángel López (Astana), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott), as well as sport stars from basketball and football.

Bernal, the reigning Tour de France champion, is scheduled to race La Route d’Occitanie from August 1, before heading to the Tour de l’Ain, the Critérium du Dauphiné and then defending his yellow jersey from August 29.

Bernal is set to restart his racing season at the Mont Ventoux one-day race, before he also turns his focus to the Tour.

Richard Carapaz, winner of the 2019 Giro d’Italia, was initially expected to travel 900km from Ecuador to the Colombian capital by bike and car in order to make the flight.

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However it later emerged that the Team Ineos rider would be able to fly directly from his home nation to Spain to join his team-mates, ready to defend his pink jersey later in the year.

Nairo Quintana will make his return to the peloton at the Mont Ventoux one-day race, his team have confirmed.

The Colombian climbing star looked dominant early in 2020 as he won two out of three French stage races before the UCI suspended all events.

Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) will now be restarting his season on August 6 at the Mont Ventoux Denivelé Challenges, a climber’s one-day race that has caught the attention of the fans.

The brutal race, which made its debut on the cycling calendar last year, takes the peloton to the summit of the iconic Mont Ventoux climb in the Provence region of France.

The 2020 edition is quickly gathering a star-studded line-up, with Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) also schedule to race the 182km race.

Last season, Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) and Bardet  (Ag2r La Mondiale) went head to head on the slopes of Ventoux as the race landed in the cycling calendar with a bang.

But after Herrada took the victory by just nine seconds over the Frenchman, both riders will return for the 2020 edition, scheduled to run on Thursday, August 6.

The second edition of the race features as twist, as the peloton will ascend Mont Ventoux twice before the finish.

Riders will travel to the lower point of Chalet Reynard mid-way through the race, before heading to the classic summit after 182km of racing.

Starting from Vaison-la-Romaine, the racer heads over the Cols de Fontaube and Sault before the peloton hits the Bédoin ascent of Ventoux twice.

Quintana will be looking to pick up where he left off earlier this year, having already won five times in 2020.

His first victory came at the Tour de la Provence in February, where he claimed the Mont Ventoux/Chalet Reynard stage and took the overall.

He followed immediately with a stage victory and overall honours in the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var.

Quintana then took the final stage of Paris-Nice, the last race before the calendar was suspended.

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His 2020 schedule is now built around the Tour de France, as he is expected to head from Ventoux to the Tour de l’Ain, the Critérium du Dauphiné before the Tour stars in Nice on August 29.

Nairo Quintana has escaped unscathed after he was hit by a vehicle while out training in Colombia.

The 30-year-old has not sustained any injuries serious enough to require a visit to the hospital, having been out on home roads with his brother and team-mate Dayer Quintana.

A picture published by a Colombian radio station shows Quintana sat on a chair with police talking to his brother, a team-car parked behind with the pair's bikes mounted onto the roof.

"Nairo Quintana was hit by a vehicle during training, we will give you more information about his health as soon as possible," his Arkéa-Samsic team said in a statement.

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The incident took place in betwen the towns of Tunja and Motavita, located to the north-east of the Colombian capital Bogota and near to where Quintana is from.

A special chartered flight is booked for July 19 to bring a number of Colombian pros back to Europe ahead of the resumption of the cycling season, with the likes of Richard Carapaz needing to travel 900km by bike and car in order to make the flight.

During coronavirus lockdown in May, Nairo Quintana secured Colombian pros the right to train outside, having made a direct request to the Colombian Government.

The special dispensation meant riders had to carry their UCI licences with them while out riding, and helped them reduce losing any ground to European pros who were able to train outside again following easing of lockdown restrictions.

Nairo Quintana has revealed his fears that managers could be exploiting young Colombian riders in search of the latest Grand Tour superstar.

Quintana, winner of two Grand Tours, is an influential figure in his home nation both on and off the bike and a groundbreaking rider for Colombia on the world stage.

But the 30-year-old has shared his concerns that managers could be taking advantage of young riders in the search of the next Quintana, Rigoberto Urán or Egan Bernal.

Speaking on the podcast El Leñero Quintana, who has joined Arkéa-Samsic, said: “The managers arrive [in Colombia] and say they want to take them to Europe at 15 or 16 years old, without hardly leaving school and they put them there in cellars in different countries, eating badly, living poorly, and suffering, leaving the children with many psychological problems and abandoning cycling and abandoning everything.”

Quintana said European managers often travel to Colombia to offer contracts to junior riders and saying they are the representative who signed the likes of Urán (EF Pro Cycling), Iván Sosa, or Bernal (Team Ineos) and “cheating them to accidentally find a champion and fill their pockets with money.”

Colombian has become a focal point in professional cycling after the emergence of star riders like Quintana, Urán and more recently emerging talents like Bernal, Sosa and Sergio Higuita.

But Quintana says he has been working with young riders in the hopes of preventing them from travelling to Europe before they are ready.

He said: “There are many who have returned to Colombia unsuccessful, frustrated, and that has been difficult to see.”

Instead he recommends riders stay in Colombia until at least under-23 category, giving them time to finish school and work on their training.

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He said: “There may be exceptions, like Egan Bernal, who won the Tour, but it is a unique case in history.

“Some want to go from junior level to the Tour de France.”

The Tour de France was thrown into doubt for Colombian pros as the government extended the ban on flying until September.

Superstar riders Egan Bernal, Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Urán are among the pros who would be affected by the measures, as Colombian president Iván Duque announced that international flights would be banned until August 31.

The postponed 2020 Tour de France is scheduled to start from Nice on August 29.

But the Colombian federation is trying to get special permission for cyclists to travel to Europe for the Tour and the other races on the re-designed calendar.

President of the Colombian federation, Mauricio Vargas, told the Associated Press: “ We began contacts with the President of Colombia Iván Duque, the Minister of Transport Angela María Orozco and the Minister of Sport Ernesto Lucena so that cyclists can travel to Europe in a timely manner and intervene in races prior to the Tour de France and other important competitions.

“We will coordinate the issue of travel with the Colombian government and the teams, there will be no problem.”

The coronavirus crisis has completely upended the cycling calendar, with the UCI forced to completely reschedule most of the season to the final four months of the year.

WorldTour racing is currently set to return on August 1 with Strade Bianche, but there are still doubts around whether the pandemic will have faded enough to allow bike racing.

Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) flew back to Colombia from Europe in March, after spending a number of weeks training in Monaco.

The 2019 Tour de France winner then contacted health authorities on landing back in his home country to be tested for coronavirus, eventually returning a negative result.

He was then forced to isolate in his house regardless, as he had returned home from a high-risk area of Europe.

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A total of 111 pro riders have been given permission to train out on the roads in Colombia, including Quintana and Bernal.

Nairo Quintana has secured his fellow Colombian pros the right to train outside after making a direct request to the Colombian Government.

Quintana was on Instagram Live with Ernesto Lucena, the Minister of Sports, which ended with Lucena making a commitment that all riders who carry a UCI licence would be allowed to train on the road. This special dispensation follows Colombia last week allowing people to exercise outside for one hour a day.

"The idea is that only professional cyclists who have a UCI licence will be able to go out to train and it will be up to the mayor in each municipality to create their own regulations," said Lucena.

Quintana is a hugely popular and well-known figure in his country and often throws his support behind social issues and campaigns. Recently, he donated one of his pink jerseys from the Giro d'Italia as an initiative from the mayor of Tunja, a city around 100km north-east of Bogota, raised over £2 million for local hospitals.

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"Nairo has been a great voice for all of them (cyclists) and they will be able to train again because it is their job, they make their livelihoods from that and they give joy to Colombians. The request from Nairo has been heard," Lucena added.

Each municipality will set their own rules for riding, with the mayor of Zipaquirá authorising five riders, including Ineos' Egan Bernal and Brandon Rivera, to train outside as long as they try to prioritise their rides between 5am and 8am in the morning while maintaining a distance of five metres.

Bernal had self-isolated after returning to Colombia from his European base in Andorra before testing negative for coronavirus.

Some countries around the world are slowly lifting lockdown measures, with France planning to bring its strict lockdown to a close from May 11, with cyclists allowed back onto the roads for the first time since March.

Rides can be undertaken without a time limit, within 100km of your home, and with no more than 10 people, with cyclists also required to stay at least 10m apart.

Pro riders, such as Bernal's team-mate Chris Froome who lives near Nice, are allowed to resume high-intensity training outdoors but must ride on their own and respect social distancing.

Having left his Movistar at the end of last season, Nairo Quintana is now free to publicly reflect on his successes and failures with the Spanish WorldTour team.

The Colombian Grand Tour star has shared his thoughts in an interview with ESPN Bike, admitting that Chris Froome was “stronger” in previous races but that Team Ineos played a large role in his four Tour de France victories.

Debate over the former battles between Chris Froome and Quintana have been rife in recent weeks, after Movistar boss Eusebio Unzuè said Froome never had to face his rival “one-on-one.”

Froome, winner of seven Grand Tour’s to Quintana’s two, responded to Unuè’s comments with a laughing emoji on Twitter and said the “headline did make me laugh a little” but that he had the utmost respect for his long-standing rival.

Quintana said: “I read the Froome thing. We know he’s had a strong team and that they’ve saved him in many moments. But also it’s true that he was stronger than me.

"The good fortune he’s had in being on that team has taken him to where he is. As for myself, I fought as hard as I could and will keep fighting."

Responding to Unuè’s comments, Froome had said: “To be clear I have the utmost respect for Nairo and racing against him over the years has been an absolute pleasure.

“That headline did make me laugh a little though.”

Quintana, who was on stellar form in 2020 with two general classification victories before the coronavirus crisis, also reflected on the 2015 Tour de France, which saw him finish in second, just over a minute behind Froome.

The 30-year-old blames the loss on an unnamed team-mate, who Quintana believes cost him the win on stage 20 to Alpe d’Huez.

Quintana went into the stage almost three minutes down on Froome but found himself on a storming day.

Alejandro Valverde, Quintana’s Movistar team-mate, attacked from the peloton multiple times on the Col de la Croix de Fer and Alpe d’Huez, setting up Quintana to take second on the stage and take more than a minute out of the yellow jersey.

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Looking back on that day of racing, Quintana said: “We started with a clear strategy. Some team-mates cooperated very well, others did not. There was a certain point during that ride when it became impossible for me to win the Tour and it was because of a team-mate. The rider in question knows what I’m taking about.”

He added: “I remember it as a sad day, because the opportunity passed me by.”