Movistar Boss Explains Why He Gave Nairo Quintana Another Shot
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When Spanish racing outfit Movistar announced they had signed Colombian superclimber Nairo Quintana, plenty of eyebrows in the cycling world raised.
After all, Quintana was disqualified from the 2022 Tour de France after testing positive for a banned substance. It was a positive result that not only cost him his sixth-place finish in the Tour, but also his spot with then-team Arkéa-Samsic, leaving him without a team for the remainder of the 2022 season and the whole of this year.
Since his disqualification—which stemmed from a positive test for tramadol, a substance banned by the UCI though, it should be noted, not by WADA—and subsequent release, Quintana raced only twice; 2022’s World Championship road race and this year’s Colombian National Championship, where he finished third.
Though tramadol is banned by the UCI for in-competition use, it is not on WADA’s list of banned substances. Therefore, it does not constitute any anti-doping regulations, which is why Quintana was allowed to race for his country.
Then in late-October, Movistar, for whom Quintana raced from 2012-2019, announced they signed the 33-year-old Colombian to a one-year-deal.
In a recent interview with Spanish sports outlet El Mundo Deportivo, Movistar team boss Eusebio Unzué explained why he decided to give his longtime climber another shot.
“With all that Nairo has contributed to cycling, to the team itself, and to Telefónica, we couldn't just sit back and do nothing,” said Unzué.
Unzué continued to explain that the signing of Quintana was not purely a feel-good story and that he would have a role alleviating some of the pressure from Movistar’s team leader, 28-year-old Spanish rider Enric Mas.
“Knowing that (Mas) carried the sole responsibility for the team, sometimes that's too much, and I think the arrival of Nairo can be good for him in this sense,” Unzué, who, thanks to the Netflix series The Least Expected Day, has become something of a celebrity in his own right, said. “Sharing responsibilities with Nairo can be a relief for Enric and can help him so that his performance and final results can match the quality he has.”
Of course, Unzué added some of his typical straight-shooting, saying that he was sure that Quintana’s “best days are behind him.”
After a decent spring campaign which saw Mas finishing sixth in Tirreno-Adriatico and fifth in Itzulia Basque Country, expectations were high heading into this year’s Tour de France. However, those hopes were dashed for Mas and his team when he crashed out of the race in the very first stage in Bilbao.
Mas recovered well enough to nab sixth place in the GC standings in the 2023 Vuelta a España, a race he’s thrice finished as runner up.
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