Former Giro d’Italia winner Nairo Quintana has offered a spirited defence of Tadej Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates' quest for as many Giro d’Italia stage victories as possible, saying that while he and Movistar adopted a different strategy when he was dominating in Grand Tours, other tactics are equally valid.
Currently, 31st overall, Quintana indicated pre-race that he would chase stage wins rather than his initial objective of a high GC finish. He is slated to ride in support of teammate Enric Mas at the Vuelta a España later in the year.
The Colombian fell victim to UAE Team Emirates collective decision to go for a stage win with Pogačar on Saturday when a promising-looking 14-man early break in which he took part was reeled in by the maglia rosa’s team on the final climb, the Prati di Tivo.
But as the 34-year-old veteran told Cyclingnews at the stage 9 start at Avezzano, Pogačar's relative youth partly explained his and team’s ultra-ambitious stance. Furthermore, Quintana said, when it came to fighting for victories and going for stage wins, no single strategy was necessarily the right one.
“There’s a Colombian song out there which says ‘Yo tambien tuve quince años’ - [‘I was 15 once too’ - Ed.] so I just put myself in his position,” he argued.
“Each leader does what he wants and that’s totally acceptable, he’s enjoying doing it that way.”
Back in his day when he was winning Grand Tours, Quintana said, “We did it differently. We gave other teams their chance to win. But his approach is totally acceptable as well.”
The winner of the Giro d’Italia back in 2014 and second overall in 2017, Quintana said that he was anything but surprised that Pogačar was already so well-positioned to claim the overall victory. However, he warned that the fight for the GC was anything but over.
“For sure there will be some big battles to come. But we all knew from day one he was the big favourite, that he would likely fulfil all the expectations everybody had of him in this year’s Giro, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.”
Quintana had come into the Giro d’Italia with a more than uneven start to the season, which was preceded by a tumultuous 2023.
The Giro d’Italia is his first Grand Tour after a return to racing this season ended a year-long hiatus following his positive for tramadol in the Tour de France 2022. At the time tramadol was not punishable with a suspension, but he parted company with Arkea-Samsic, and finally began a second stint with former team Movistar in 2024.
Quintana contracted COVID-19 at the Tour Colombia, however, which delayed the start of his European season, while a crash at the Volta a Catalunya left Quintana with a displaced collarbone and put his 2024 Giro participation in doubt.
Finally, though, he is taking part in the Giro, and stage 8 saw him on the attack for the first time, earlier than had been expected, with the later climbing days his main target.
With a stage win for Pelayo Sanchez on stage 6, “It’s been a good week for us with Einer [Rubio, eighth overall at 5:28 - Ed.] in the top ten, too, and we’re hoping he’ll do even better,” he pointed out. “Then the mountains should favour us in the third week as well.”
Quintana said he had not been expecting to get into a big move so soon, but “It was a break with all the teams in there, and we couldn’t be missing from that. Our team wasn’t part of it at first, but we got two of us into it, and we were hoping to get away.”
Although that move didn't work out, the next step, he argued, was to get into the climbing stages in the third week. The Giro's ascent of the Stelvio on stage 16, where he launched a move that effectively won him the 2014 race, was something he was looking forward to in particular.
“That’s one that brings me good memories, and it could be one of them for me. But,” he added with a grin, “let’s see what the leader’s team has to say about that, too.”
