Cobbles don't bother me, insists Nairo Quintana

Nairo Quintana insists riding on cobbles is not something that fazes him, saying the three sections of pavé in this year’s Tour de France will not cause him much bother.

The Colombian winner of the 2014 Giro d’Italia will take on the cobbles for the first time at the Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3-Harelbeke in March.

And Quintana has the benefit of his brother Dayer having ridden Paris-Roubaix last year, so Nairo has been keen to glean any information he can.

“He tells me that the key thing is your positioning in the group,” Quintana told Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.

“The truth is that the issue does not bother me. Yes, it’s the first time I’ll ride the pavé but it’s not another world.”

It’s not the first time Movistar have sent one of their big name riders to race on the cobbles ahead of the Tour de France, with Alejandro Valverde following the same path last season.

The Spaniard did not fare well when the Tour hit the cobbles, however, losing two minutes to Vincenzo Nibali on stage five.