“My interest is to continue raising the flag of the country in the great races of the world”. This was one of Nairo Quintana’s phrases on January 25, when he summoned the media to a press conference in Bogotá to dispel rumors of a possible retirement and make clear his desire to continue his career as a professional cyclist. And it is about to take an important step to meet that goal.
Although in the last hours versions emerged that indicated that the meeting between the boyacense and the International Cycling Union had fallen, from the athlete’s environment denied said information, confirming that Nairo will have a fleeting trip to Mexico this Friday, February 17 and will later go to Europe to meet with UCI officials.
The purpose of this meeting will be unlock the complicated situation that has prevented Quintana from being signed by a European teamAlthough the Colombian remains adamant that he is not guilty of the consumption of Tramadol for which he was suspended and disqualified from the Tour de France the previous year.
“I want to compete again, put on a number, feel the demand to respond to a team, the pain in the legs from the effort, but also the satisfaction of victory or of having given my best to the finish line, I want this, I need it because the competition is in me, but I also need a better environment to be able to be calm and focused on it,” said Nairo at the time and, before the nationals, He expressed the desire to run for a European squad.
This meeting is expected to help Nairo resolve his future after returning to the roads in the National Road Championships in Bucaramanga, where he was one of the protagonists, being one of the most acclaimed by the public and remaining on the podium of the elite male event won by Esteban Chaves. At the moment, Quintana rules out running in a Colombian team.