Colombia’s Giro d’Italia champion Nairo Quintana’s cycling team said he will compete in the upcoming Vuelta a España, reported national media on Tuesday.
After Quintana’s victory in the 2014 Giro d’Italia, the manager of Quintana’s Movistar team stated their intention for Nairo Quintana to compete in the 2014 Vuelta a España, slated to begin on 23 August, according to Colombia’s El Espectador newspaper.
Movistar team manager Eusebio Unzue, told reporters that Nairo Quintana “is going to the Vuelta a España, it’s on his calendar. For now, we’re sending him to rest to recuperate from this achievement, and in August he will be fighting [for victory] among the other great cyclists.”
Unzue was quoted in the Vanguardia Liberal newspaper as saying it was not set in stone whether his team would compete in the 2015 Tour de France.
The Boyaca-born rider won the cycling grand tour Giro d’Italia on Sunday, the second Colombian in history to win one of the sport’s three biggest events, the grand tours.
MORE: Colombia’s Nairo Quintana wins 2014 Giro d’Italia, Rigoberto Uran 2nd
Unzue also stated, “the Nairo that entered the Giro d’Italia is not the same because of all he learned a month later.” He continued to praise Quintana’s achievements, “I am very thankful to have Nairo on the team. When we created the program for this year, I proposed that we opt against the Tour [de France], and do the Giro. Fortunately they confided in us, and time showed us the first Latin American victory [0f the Giro d’Italia], one of the most spectacular tours.”
- Nairo Quintana participará en la Vuelta a España (El Espectador)
- El próximo reto de Nairo Quintana será la vuelta a España (Vanguardia Liberal)