The Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana, who has been without a team for a year, returns to Movistar five years after his departure, as reported this Saturday by the Spanish team.
Quintana, 33 years old, wore the colors of Movistar from 2012 to 2019, a team with which he achieved the great achievements of his professional career such as the 2014 Giro d'Italia, the 2016 Vuelta a España and three podiums (second in 2013 and 2015 and third in 2016) in the Tour de France.
"I'm excited to be back home. It's been a difficult year. Days without sleep, many days of enormous sacrifice, getting on the bike and trying to walk forward, rain or shine. But it's been worth it. I'm not going to miss the opportunity. I know the values of the team, the values of the sport. I am going to give my all to do well and I want to contribute to the team to obtain the best results," said Quintana when announcing his return to the Spanish team.
"I thank Movistar, Telefónica and the team for this great opportunity, which I have been waiting for so long. With my heart, and with my legs, I am going to give everything, for them and for the fans. I hope that this cycle will be many successes for the team," he added.
After leaving Movistar, Nairo Quintana signed for the French team Arkea, whose passage, from 2020 to 2022, was discreet, competing only in the Tour de France in the grand rounds. His best result, in those three years, was a fourth place in the Vuelta a Catalunya in 2022 and a fifth in Paris-Nice also that year.
Nairo Quintana has spent all of 2023 without racing in a team structure. The Colombian has been without a team after in 2022, one day before starting the Vuelta a España, in Utrecht (Netherlands), Arkea was notified that he had tested positive for tramadol in the Tour. He was disqualified from the race, in which he had finished sixth, but not sanctioned, since from 2024 he will be considered positive for doping.
Arkea, with which he renewed his contract weeks before the 2022 Vuelta, decided not to run La Vuelta, and the Colombian rider himself announced on October 1 of that year that he would not continue with the French team to focus on his defense against TAS.
With its return to Movistar, the Spanish team once again has in its ranks "a symbol of its recent history and a benchmark for sport in Latin America."
