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Teams & Riders Nairo Quintana discussion thread

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Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
Valv.Piti said:
So Movistar will send Alejandro, Quintana and Landa to L-B-L. That could get a little scary if Quintana is in good shape.
It's about 5% more scary than just Valverde in LBL
LOL.
I don't know about Landa but Quintana has never done good in Classics. He only goes to put miles on his legs. I am sure that he will work for Valverde early on the race.
 
Re: Re:

Escarabajo said:
Red Rick said:
Valv.Piti said:
So Movistar will send Alejandro, Quintana and Landa to L-B-L. That could get a little scary if Quintana is in good shape.
It's about 5% more scary than just Valverde in LBL
LOL.
I don't know about Landa but Quintana has never done good in Classics. He only goes to put miles on his legs. I am sure that he will work for Valverde early on the race.

I actually think it may be likely Landa will work for Valverde in the Ardennes based on a comment he made earlier this year. He said he wants to go to the Ardennes because it's been a long time since he's been there and thinks he can do well, but even more so because he wants to learn from the master of these races, obviously referring to Valverde.
 
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Re: Re:

DNP-Old said:

Yeah. Is that even possible? Maybe if he wants to finish outside the top 20 he could be more conservative.

Jspear, same here.

I have a couple of takeaways on this one. First with what he says here, he has to be going to Catalonia to ride in support of Valverde and Soler, then Basque to ride in support of Landa. No earthly idea why he's going to Liege as he's not even a good support rider for Valverde in the classics. Second, this makes me more convinced the team has lost confidence in him. Third, I think his time at Movistar is coming to an end. Rather he breaks his contract and leaves at the end of this year, or rather he goes elsewhere after 2019 no idea, but I don't see him staying past his current contract which expires next year.
 
I got the impression from that article that the "more conservative" part concerned the races leading up to the Tour rather than Tour itself, but I'm not completely sure either.

We need some Spanish-speaking forum members to find the original El Tiempo article from where Quintana's quotes were taken to properly understand what he said and meant.
 
It is not clear Pohja but if you ask me I read the same as you. In the past for the 1 week races he would obsess in winning them. That's why he was piling up victories in those smaller races. Now it looks like he will take a "conservative" approach in those races.
 
Re:

Escarabajo said:
It is not clear Pohja But if you ask me I read the same as you. In the past for the 1 week races he would obsess in winning them. That's why he was piling up victories in those smaller races. Now it looks like he will take a "conservative" approach in those races.


But now the question is, does this mean he's willing to ride in support of Valverde and Landa in these spring races? They both are going to these races to actually win them.

tobydawg, from that interview, it definitely sounds more like conservative leading up to the Tour. IMO, to me that then means he must be riding a support role as there are other riders on this team very capable or winning 1 week races. Specifically Valverde, who can win any race he enters and intends on doing so unless he's picked a teammate to ride for (which does happen on occasion), or Landa. Also Soler is starting to show he can do well and possibly win one week races (Paris-Nice is going to be a huge test for him).
 
In the original interview in Spanish, there's no ambiguity in Nairo's usage of the word "conservative." What he stated in the interview is that his only focus this year will be getting to the Tour in optimal shape, thus he will race conservatively in all the lead-up races and will only race to win if the opportunity falls into his lap.

In previous years, He has always had a fitness peak in the spring, followed by time off and training at altitude in Colombia, and then another peak during the Tour. My guess is that this year he won't try to achieve a spring peak and will instead attempt to keep a steady form leading up to the Tour.
 
I think he definitely is not on good terms with Unzue, he's probably pissed because of last year's double debacle (and blaming Unzue for persuading him), so he wants to take different approach this year, to focus solely on the Tour. But I think Unzue doesn't like that kind of attitude, that's why he get Valverde and especially Landa as a company in the Tour. Tour this year is an ultimate test for Quintana, and it will decide Quintana's future at Movistar.
 
I think its a good strat for Quintana, Movistar has plenty of weapons to win various races (or at least contend for them) this year. Landa seems to be in very good shape this spring, Soler is constantly evolving, Rosón can do stuff and obviously Valverde who hasn't skipped a beat. That allows Quintana to take a more chill approach - he has been very good in the spring previous year, so I like shaking it up a bit. Quintana IS Movistar's best card on a 2018 route in absolutely top shape (wasn't the case in 2017), heck he is probably the favourite overall considering Froome and Dumo are doing the Tour.
That obviously also means that he will support Valverde in Catalunya which is great. And lets see who are strongest in Pais Vasco of him and Landa.
 
Re:

Blanco said:
I think he definitely is not on good terms with Unzue, he's probably pissed because of last year's double debacle (and blaming Unzue for persuading him), so he wants to take different approach this year, to focus solely on the Tour. But I think Unzue doesn't like that kind of attitude, that's why he get Valverde and especially Landa as a company in the Tour. Tour this year is an ultimate test for Quintana, and it will decide Quintana's future at Movistar.


I agree. Yet it was Quintana wanting to do the Giro/Tour double and continuing to tell the media he was going while the team was saying they weren't sure that was a great idea and finally said fine he wants to do it, let him try it.

This added to a lot of other things including comments by Movistar's management when Valverde was in the hospital last summer, plus some other comments really lead me to believe there is a large rift between Quintana and the powers that be at Movistar.

Now which cobbled race is Quintana going to? Most are raced at the same time as Catalonia, and if Valverde actually goes to one it's going to be Flanders. If he actually goes to Flanders no way they put Quintana in that race as they'll need a full team around Valverde to ensure he safely gets through the cobbles and then see what he can actually do there. He's not going to go to just put KMs in his legs. So that leaves us with sending Quintana to Roubiax?

Valv.Piti, He has to be going to Catalonia to support Valverde. Valverde is back and trying to win every race he enters like normal. Truthfully I'm interested to see how well Soler does right now at Paris-Nice, and then how well he recovers for Catalonia.
 

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