Nairo Quintana denied this Wednesday that he is going to retire from professional cycling. The runner himself, who is still looking for a team in Europe, pointed out that he is moving forward and that his goal is to fight for the big races as he has been doing since 2012. Despite having many doors closed due to his case with tramadol, He ruled out lowering his arms and hopes to close an agreement with a squad in mid-February.
After the press conference in which Nairo spoke about his future, several have been the voices of support, among them those of two of his friends in the international squad: Sergio Andrés Higuita from Bora-Hansgrohe and Harold Tejada from Astana. The Colombians expressed their happiness that he wants to stay in the elite and believe that he has plenty of quality to fight against the best in the world.
“For me it’s the right decision. because a cyclist of the stature of Nairo cannot retire like this with this panorama. Let’s hope he can get a team, that he returns to the WorldTour the way he wants. You have to have faith because he is one of our greatest references, ”said Sergio Higuita from Argentina where he is competing in the Vuelta a San Juan.
“For us it is beautiful news, it is not yet time for him to retire, he has 2, 3 more years to fight. I hope he finds a space where they can receive him, accept him, he has a lot of class and he is Nairo Quintana. It must be a difficult moment, but I support him and I hope he is lucky and gets a team”, commented Harold Tejada.
Sergio Higuita would give him a place in the Bora
The Monster pointed out that if it were up to him, he would open a place for Nairo Quintana on his team. He talked about this possibility between laughs, but clarified that it corresponds to other people, “the one who commands is the white feather, the boss,” he explained. If it were up to Higuita, Nairo “would be here too.”
The importance of Nairo in world cycling. “He is one of our most important runners. He is the winningest cyclist in Latin America, he is too important, one of the best in the world in the history of cycling. He has great potential, he still has it. Staying active for so many years, he is a cyclist who shows professionalism, dedication and sacrifice ”.
His idol, his example of youth. “For me it has been an example. I had a poster of him when I was 12 years old. We left the same place. When he was in Colombia es Pasión, I was at the Nueva Generación Club, which belongs to Luis Fernando Saldarriaga’s father, his director at that time, so we were always close with Nairo Quintana, with Esteban Chaves, Sergio Luis Henao. He has always been an idol for children and young people, for me he has been and still is. It is a very beautiful emotion when I trained, I climbed in Medellín I imagined that it was Nairo, that he was going to blow everyone up like he did in the Tour de France ”.