Nairo Quintana: Rider Profile

Nairo Quintana

Date of birth: 04/02/1990

Team: Movistar

Previous teams: Boyacá Es Para Vivirla (2009); Colombia Es Pasion (2010-11)

Nairo Quintana career profile

Nairo Quintana was born in Boyaca, Colombia, in February 1990 with his cycling background differing from the norm.

Quintana first rode a bike as a school boy when his father invested in a second hand mountain bike which would be used by Quintana to get to his school that was located nine miles away.

The mountainous route to school had a profound impact on the young Colombian who became fascinated with the sport, later riding competitively and paying the race fees after he had won.

Aged 19, Quintana was rewarded with his first professional contract as he raced for the government-funded Boyacá Es Para Vivirla.

His best result of his season was a tenth-placed finish on stage six of the Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta Mont Blanc

In 2010 Colombia Es Pasion came calling and Quintana signed a two-year deal, where he raced with his fellow countryman and later-to-be World Tour rider Sergio Henao.

Quintana competed in a mixture of under-23 and elite races throughout his first season with Es Pasion (now named 4-72) before he won the Tour de l'Avenir general classification.

L'Avenir is translated into "Tour of the Future" and Quintana's victory by 1.44 portrayed his enormous talent. Two stage wins on the sixth day and the final day's individual time trial propelled Quintana to the summit of the GC.

Quintana could not defend his title in 2011 Tour de l'Avenir, his best placing being eighth on the second stage as he finished in 21st position overall.

But he did claim the Volta a Catalunya mountains classification by five points from Alberto Contador, another indication of his climbing prowess.

Spanish team Movistar then decided to snap up the flourishing 5' 5" ace for the 2012 season and he got off to a successful start by winning the two-day Vuelta a Murcia GC.

He followed that up with second place at the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid and then won arguably his biggest race up until that point by winning stage 6 of the 2012 Criterium du Dauphine after an intrepid attack.

Despite a GC victory on the Route du Sud - la Dépêche du Midi, Quintana was overlooked for Movistar's Tour de France team. He did, though, make his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a Espana and was part of the Movistar team that won the opening day's team time trial.

Third place in the 2013 Paris-Nice TT was his first result of a year that saw the rider become a household name.

A stage win at the Volta a Cataluyna earned him a spot on the GC podium in third before he won the GC at the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco thanks to a stage victory and second in the TT.

At the 2013 Tour de France Quintana was a revelation, jostling with the leading contenders on the mountain stages and forcing eventual winner Chris Froome into an occasional game of cat and mouse on the Alpine and Pyrenees slopes.

He came second behind Froome on Mont Ventoux and fourth on stage 18 which involved two ascents of Alpe d'Huez. Each time Quintana conveyed a neutral, pain-free face as he climbed up the GC.

He tucked himself into an aerodynamic stance on stage 17 of a hilly TT, crossing the line in sixth place to strengthen his chances of being on the podium.

He then made sure of second place on the GC, the polka-dot jersey and the young riders jersey after storming away from Froome and Joaquim Rodriguez on the climb into Semnoz on stage 20 to claim the stage win he coveted.

In August 2013 Movistar extended Quintana's contract for a further two seasons and he repaid them with his first Grand Tour victory in the 2014 Giro d'Italia, winning two stages along the way.

Nairo Quintana's results
2014
Tour de San Luis; stage four

Giro d'Italia; stage 16

Giro d'Italia; stage 19 ITT

Giro d'Italia; overall

Giro d'Italia; youth classification

Vuelta a Burgos; stage three

2013

Tour de France: second overall

Tour de France: mountains classification

Tour de France: young riders classification

Tour de France: stage 20

Volta a Cataluyna: stage 3

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco: overall

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco: stage 4

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco: points classification

2012

Vuelta a Marcia: overall

Vuelta a Marcia: stage 1

Route du Sud - la Dépêche du Midi: overall

Criterium du Dauphine: stage 6

Vuelta a Espana: stage 1 (team time trial)

Giro dell'Emilia: overall

2011

Volta a Catalunya: mountains classification

2010

Tour de l'Avenir: overall

Tour de l'Avenir: stage 6

Tour de l'Avenir: stage 7 (TT)

Related links

Cycling Weekly's Rider Profiles: Index