Nairo Quintana admits he expects to lose the pink jersey in Giro d'Italia stage 10 time trial

Colombian aiming to limit he losses to Tom Dumoulin and Thibaut Pinot in 39.8km test against the clock

After a crash split the peloton, Nairo Quintana was the strongest on the race's first serious climb, the Blockhaus. The Colombian rider ended the day with both the stage win and the pink jersey before the second rest day.

(Image credit: Yuzuru SUNADA)

Giro d'Italia leader Nairo Quintana (Movistar) says that he expects to lose the pink jersey in Tuesday's time trial.

The Colombian climber moved into pink with a dominant performance on Sunday's summit finish to Blockhaus, but says that he could struggle to stay in the lead with Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) both within 30 seconds on GC.

"It’s obvious that I should lose some time tomorrow," Quintana said at a press conference on Monday's rest day.

>>> Strava stats reveal just how fast Nairo Quintana attacked on the Blockhaus at the Giro d'Italia

"We’re facing a strong Tom Dumoulin, a talented specialist; also Thibaut Pinot, who rides well against the clock. They will surely do better on tomorrow’s course than me, though I hope not to lose too much time.

"I’d of course like to keep the maglia rosa, but we know it’ll be difficult. I wouldn’t dare to say how much time lost would make me happy. I’ll wait for tomorrow to see how I feel about my performance."

Watch: Giro d'Italia stage 10-15 preview

Asked what would be his strategy for the rest of the race, particularly in the mountainous final week in the Alps, Quintana insisted that he didn't want to look beyond Tuesday's time trial.

"Let’s see how we do on Tuesday and we’ll start building our race strategy immediately after that," he continued.

>>> Orica-Scott director slams Movistar for not waiting for riders caught in Giro motorbike crash

"I won’t comment anything about that strategy. However, what’s clear for us is that we will continue to make our moves on the terrain that favours us, and work as hard as we’ve done so far.”

Tuesday's stage sees the riders face a 39.8km time trial from Foligno to Montefalco, with a rolling course that should favour the GC contenders as much as the pure time triallists.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Henry Robertshaw began his time at Cycling Weekly working with the tech team, writing reviews, buying guides and appearing in videos advising on how to dress for the seasons. He later moved over to the news team, where his work focused on the professional peloton as well as legislation and provision for cycling. He's since moved his career in a new direction, with a role at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.