Nairo Quintana could return to Movistar in the future: 'It's not that I don't like them'

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.”