Alberto Contador on Nairo Quintana: The only order he received was to stay at my wheel
May 18 2019 07:24 pm CET
Photo by ASO/A.Broadway
Former rider Alberto Contador has commented on his experience in the peloton with Movistar rider Nairo Quintana. The rider talked about the conservative ways of the Colombian and the orders he received when the former Tour de France winner was still a professional rider.
Contador is currently doing commenting work for Eurosport Spain and every day he shares stories about his time as a professional cyclist. The former multiple winner of the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, discussed the time he shared in the peloton with Movistar's Nairo Quintana during the analysis show of the Giro d'Italia.
"He had a very predictable strategy," commented Contador. "I was one of the riders that attracted the most attention and I think the only order he received was to stay at my wheel. Sometimes they said: 'stay where Alberto is'."
Juan Gutierrez, another collaborator of Eurosport commented on this: "And this is how he won the Vuelta," with which Contador agreed. "In that Vuelta, I was already ruled out (for GC)," the former rider explained. "He was at my wheel at the right time, (Chris) Froome wasn't and Formigal gave Nairo the final victory.
"There are more examples: Paris-Nice, Pais Vasco... maybe that way of riding, very conservative in several moments, stopped Nairo from winning that Tour de France that he could have won in 2013. It is easy to talk about the past, but if he would have raced in a more ambitious way, that Tour would have been the first for Colombia."
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