A tent outside the Holiday Inn hotel in Bucaramanga. The head of security comes out to ask. The owner tells him, “I’m going to stay here to see Nairo Quintana”. They explain to her that she cannot stay. He puts up his tent and hours later he achieves his goal. He manages to see the boyacense cyclist in one of his training outings.
He was not the only one. Almost 100 people were waiting for him outside the hotel to let him know that the love has not gone. That anywhere you decide to run, you will be supported.
In the press conference prior to the elite test, Nairo thanked his fans and also the Colombian teams that have invited him to run. The one that joined was the Sistecrédito, its director Gabriel Jaime Vélez confirmed it.
“As I said at the press conference in Bogotá, I appreciate that invitation because it gives me great joy and fills me with emotion that people love me. That is the best prize, the affection of the people. I have done things with transparency and now I can only say that it is what God wants. At this moment I have my life given to him and what I do say is that at this moment it will not be possible to run here in Colombia”.
Nairo has not been able to be national champion, but he could achieve it this Sunday. Although he confirmed that he is not physically well, “It is an achievement that I have not had but that I have prepared on different occasions. I’m not having a good time but I want to show the runner that I am and we have to go calmly”.
Nairo helps the Ingeniería de Vías runners with their uniforms, but he also works with more young people from his region, “three days a week I get up to continue helping them and We have seen seven riders in the top ten of the general classification of the sub 23 event. Many of them first and second year. We continue working for national sport and I still believe that I have the desire and motivation to represent my country in European teams”.
Finally, the rider asked for respect for the cyclists in the elite race, “before, the Championships were held in December and then they were moved to February because we wanted to run them. From there we all had the opportunity to have the champions together. We hope that for the safety of all the teams, they will take care of us. The squads are jealous that one comes because they don’t know how safe it can be and an injury due to recklessness by the public can be costly, so let’s have a lot of respect for the cyclist. Leave him alone and respect the fenced area, which is where the race will take place”.
