“I would have liked to raced the Tour again this year, but the team wants me to go to the Giro. The one who pays has the final say.”
Thus spoke Nairo Quintana just a couple of days ago after it was revealed the 24-year-old Colombian would not be racing the Tour de France.
Why?
Because Alejandro Valverde had been chosen to lead them in July.
Why?
Well, because, as the Movistar team from which the pair hail had no leader for the Giro, for perfectly (I stress perfectly) obvious reasons, the team management had decided to send the guy who came second in last year’s Tour to Italy in May.
All clear? No? Not to me either.
“Personally,” opined Movistar general manager Eusebio Unzue, “I don’t think taking Nairo to the Tour with his age, plus the pressure of improving last year’s result, is interesting for his future.
“I prefer to keep him growing into the formation period he’s still in and let him know the Giro, because we think it’s an extremely interesting race for him to progress on so many aspects, and where he will enjoy full leadership in a Grand Tour for the first time.”
But after Alejandro busted a tire on Stage 13 in last year’s race and lost a whopping ten minutes-plus on the stage and on the GC, it was the Tour debutant Nairo Quintana upon whom the Movistar leadership duties fell. And the youngster did not buckle.
In fact, he grabbed that bag of responsibility with a steely grip and set about putting in the only real challenge that the eventual winner Chris Froome faced all Tour.
Let me remind you what happened once Alejandro’s assault on the podium went flat and Nairo took to the hills.
On Stage 15 to Ventoux Quintana attacked Froome and dropped the pack, taking the Briton with him, though he was eventually dropped before the line as Froome won.
That took the Colombian to sixth on the GC. Not bad, not bad at all. A debutant of lesser caliber would have been thrilled at that and might look to cement his place, maybe go for a top five.
Not Quintana though.
Stage 18 took the peloton over l’Alpe d’Huez twice and took Quntana from sixth on the GC to third, after he finished fourth on the stage. And then on Stage 20, sensing he was flying and getting better and better in the hills, he attacked and beat Joaquim Rodriguez and Froome for the stage win – his first ever in the Tour, on his debut (this is worth repeating) and into second on the overall, where he ended up in Paris.
Oh yeah, and he won the King of the Mountains competition, and the Best Young Rider competition. It was the best debut since Jan Ulrich in 1996.
He finished 4.20 down on Froome. Valverde finished over 15 minutes behind.
Now, let’s grant Alejandro 10 minutes for that flat tire, and Quintana still emerges as a more natural Tour rider. And let us not forget to take another minute or three off of Valverde in lieu if his wealth of Tour experience.
Conclusion? Quintana is not only the most dangerous threat to Froome’s dominance from within the Movistar team, he is the most dangerous threat within the entire peloton.
Unzue says Quntana has a better chance to win the Giro than to beat Froome, but the Colombian himself said something that makes me, for one, think it is the elder, Spanish rider who has the ear of the team hierarchy and bears more than a sliver of responsibility in the decision.
“It’s a decision that also takes into consideration the interests of the sponsors and Valverde,” said Quintana.
Jealousy on Valverde’s part? At 33 he knows, as a rider who is not 100% suited to Grand Tours (he’s never ridden the Giro, by the way), he has little realistic chance of any higher than fifth place – and that is if everything goes swimmingly.
Quintana, on the other hand – one badly timed mechanical or an off-day for Froome – could win it.
It is a travesty that Quintana is out. He supplied us with the most exciting Tour debut in years, and it harked back to the days of young, hungry riders coming along and upsetting the status quo with their verve and raw ability.
Certainly, most young riders do need protecting, but when a guy like Quintana comes along, give him his fill. Let the boy ride!
The 2014 Tour de France will be a less thrilling spectacle without him.
Cesar Barroso
Guest
Quintana is just 24 years old, Froom is 28. I think Quintana can go two more years riding the Giro and Vuelta but to win both of them for 2 consecutive years. That will give Quintana 2 years of experience and 26 years old to race the Tour and Vuelta in 2016, perfect to lead the Tour for at least 4 years until he is 30, added 4 Grand Tours (2 Giro and 2 Vuelta) and probably a few Tour depending how Froom and Nibali perform. Watching Quintana riding the Tour for 6 years is not that exciting. Let him be the top climber of all times riding the Giro, let him create that image about being the mountain destroyer by psychologically wear down their competitors even before riding a race. He will need more than the Tour to do that. I will love to see Quintana riding the Tour this year, but there is no better virtue than being patient.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
haha no worries Frank 31 (would pay to be 31 again!), your comment made sense I just didn't fully agree, all good! I also think one of the reasons le tour has become what it is now is the fact most winners/big names of the past 2 decades come from non traditional cycling nations: Armstrong, Froome, Wiggins, Cavendish etc. In their country, masses, tv, media etc only/mostly watch the TdF, hence the fact these riders base their season on this race and this race only. A Spaniard would be tempted to double vuelta and Tdf, an Italian giro and tdf, hence help rise the profile of the 2 other tours. But when the best rider only focus on 1 grand tour, the 2 others become second grade imo. Re your comparison with other sport, am not a cyclist myself and dunno if a rider could race 3 grand tours at 100% in a calendar year, even if the Gira was in April and Vuelta end Oct/beg Nov? I just dunno but I doubt so unfortunately I think we will always have 1 grand tour slightly more rated than the other 2. Re Hinault, I was only a kid/teen then, but I think he was often riding 2 out of 3 tours, often the giro. I still think he was trying to peak in July but its true he gave it a real go. Maybe because as a French he knew the Giro was still a big race for us, bigger than it is for Brits and yanks no?
Justin Curran
Roar Rookie
I wonder when Quintana's current contract expires. This kind of decision might prompt a move if he keeps getting overlooked?
Frank Spinetti
Guest
I think raising the profile of other events would necessarily tone down the profile of the Tour. Every single cyclist will be asked at every single interview: "What about the Tour de France...?" I think it would make more sense if other races got a look in, though I too like the Grande Boucle. Frank Spinetti
Frank Spinetti
Guest
I am not arguing with everything you say. The Tour is in July and is very important in the European summer sporting calendar. All of this is true. The country is easily reached from the countries you mention. Je suis d'accord. However, I am not just talking about the Grand Tours. I will say again that you should compare the career of Hinault to that of Froome. People can legitimately compare Roger Federer to Rod Laver. Comparisons in cycling are difficult because of the ( negative ) development within the sport. Eddy Mercxk won more or less everything ( perhaps not Paris-Tours ). As a non-tennis person, I reckon that sport would be much diminished if Wimbledon were the only popular event. Surely tennis has a more even calendar than cycling ?!?!? Frank Spinetti, age 31
Frank Spinetti
Guest
I am 31, nickoldschool. *disgusted*
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Don't get me wrong, I love the Tour de France. I am wondering out loud though as to how do we raise the profile of other events, not lower the profile of the Tour.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Frank and Ben, I tend to agree with Lee. Its no one's fault if Le Tour has become the most important race of the cycling calendar. Dunno how old you are Frank but as someone who was born in the 70s and have been following cycling (well especially le tour) from since the 80s le TdF has always been the main race and I tend to think it was also like that before I was born (or thats what I have always been told by French media). Why? because of the race itself, the marketing, the fact its in July during the European summer break etc, the fact France is very central in Europe and all tourists/fans can from Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Switzerland etc. are within driving distance. Besides, France has always been the richer country of the 3 hence more money involved, more advertising, coverage etc. Spain was under dictatorship until the mid-70s, was a third world western Europe country until they joined the EU, Italy have had their difficulties too. If you add everything you see that le TdF had many reasons to become the dinosaur it has become. I don't think a race or event, in any sport, decides to be the main event, it just happens. Same for Paris-Roubaix or LBL. Why these races and not the clasica san Sebastian? because people have decided so.
Andrew Graham
Roar Rookie
Not enough time trials for Wiggo to beat Froome. Doubt he could these days anyway - Froome all the way in 2014 with Wiggo content to ride out his contract in a supporting role (apparently).
Foz
Guest
Sir Wiggans is probably the only one who can beat Froome, but is suffering the same fate as Quintana.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Thinking more about the Canadians, actually, with perhaps the Tour slipping over the border here and there. But point taken re: the Yanks; they really have some superb terrain to work with. Problem is, most schoolboys around the planet know diddly-squat about any road-race outside of the Tour de France. So what do we do to rectify this?
Andrew Graham
Roar Rookie
The next question is whether Nibali can thus beat Froome? We need a Roar-like list of 'the five riders who could win a Grand Tour besides the other guys who normally win Grand Tours' :)
DanMan
Guest
No, they left him at the front to preserve his position in GC / Young Rider Classification
Frank Spinetti
Guest
I'm not sure about moving the Vuelta to USA. If the Yanks want their own tour, let them create a good one. Every schoolboy knows that all the serious bike races take place in Europe, Outside Europe, they're all irrelevant. Harsh, perhaps, but true. Frank Spinetti
maca146
I think your last point nails it. Its a shames as i think there is only one ITT in this tour which would give Quintana a better chance. Someone with a better memory than me might correct me, but did Quintana lose time/ energy trying to draft Valverde back to the peleton in 2013 when there was a split in the Peleton? The stage after Valverde got the flat?
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
It is a good point, Frank. Perhaps giving all the Grandtours equal status and moving at least one of them, perhaps the Vuelta a Espana, to North America would help. In someway this would be following the example of tennis with the grandslams.
Frank Spinetti
Guest
"That has always been the case, nothing new there..." Is that really true ? The one-race culture of cycling is a relatively recent thing. Perhaps we can blame Greg LeMond for this. Look at the career of Bernard Hinault. Look at the races he won and then compare it to the way that Froome has raced / will race. You say that there is an 'old school'. I fear that dope is more widespread ./ resilient than you imagine. Anyways, I still think that cycling's descent into a one-race sport has been terrible damaging to the sport. Maybe Quintana will help to correct that. Frank Spinetti
bill
Guest
Meanwhile how good is the giro going to be. Porte, this bloke, Cadel should hopefully be in the top 10. I think its movie star placating Valverde's ego plus admitting they wont beat Froome - they stated their prime goal is to win a grand tour this year so this is them looking at their best chance.
Lee Rodgers
Expert
That has always been the case Frank, nothing new there. The point here though is that the rider himself wants to be in the race, not in the Giro. If the Movistar management are trying to divert attention from the TdF in the hope that the cycling world merit other races more, then doing it this way is a little cruel! And clearly that is not what they are doing, it's obvious that Alejandro put in his tuppence and 'convinced' the management to push Q off to Italy for May, so that he could carry on fooling himself that he is the actual team leader. The guy's an unrepentant doper and part of the old school, Q is a breath of fresh air and exactly what the Tour - and the cycling fans, weary of the pattern of one-man dominance - need.
Tim Renowden
Expert
I agree it's a shame, but team politics has always been a major factor in team selection and leadership. It's not surprising that a Spanish team sponsored by a Spanish telco wants a Spanish leader for the year's biggest race. Meanwhile, the contenders are lining up thick and fast for the Giro. It's almost as if everyone thinks the Tour is already Froome's to win.