Tour de France - Nairo Quintana: I got distracted but the team was there to back me up
Jul 13 2019 12:26 am CET
Photo of Nairo Quintana
Nairo Quintana was one of the men involved in one of the most exciting moments of the seventh stage of the Tour de France. A small group that included the rider dropped at the back of the peloton and had to fight its way back to it.
The peloton accelerated with 28 kilometres to go to fight for the intermediate sprint, but this change of speed caught some riders distracted and they were left behind. The group included riders like Nairo Quintana, Dan Martin, Adam Yates and Wout van Aert, among others, but the work of teams like Movistar solved the situation some kilometres later.
"The cars caused the break in the peloton but with the help of the team I didn't have any further trouble," said Quintana to Spanish radio station COPE. "But we have to be aware of this kind of things. I got distracted for a moment and fortunately, the team was there to back me up and thanks to them for being there for me and the team did a great job at that moment."
Quintana's teammate Mikel Landa wasn't involved in the situation, but he also described how it happened. "The peloton got stretched after the intermediate sprint but luckily the team was there to solve the situation," the Spaniard commented.
The rider doesn't think the weekend will have a lot of action on GC but also mentions that everyone should be sharp. "Things can happen this weekend, maybe the favourites will save themselves for the Pirynees but anything can happen."
The day before, Landa attacked at the last part of the finish climb of the sixth stage, but he couldn't hold the gap to make a difference. "You start thinking back about the moment and about what could have happened if I would have waited longer but it was difficult to create a gap there and I'm happy with my shape."
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