Vuelta: Victory for Quintana

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Nairo Quintana (Movistar) claimed his second Grand Tour title when he won the Vuelta a España on Sunday after a battle with his biggest rival Chris Froome (Sky)

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Vuelta: Victory for Quintana

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) claimed his second Grand Tour title when he won the Vuelta a España on Sunday after a battle with his biggest rival Chris Froome (Sky) as the final stage was won by Denmark’s Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-Bike Exchange). His fellow Colombian Esteban Chaves rounded off the podium after overtaking Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), the race’s most aggressive rider, in Saturday’s final mountain stage. Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) won the polka dot jersey for the mountain classification while Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) clinched the green jersey for the points classification and BMC took the teams classification.

Quintana and his team mates enjoyed a glass of ‘cava’ at the back of the peloton at the start of the stage, ridden at a leisurely pace. José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) was the only non starter after sustaining a leg fracture in Saturday’s final mountain stage.

Christian Knees (Sky) was the first rider to attack in the streets of Madrid. The first real break took shape after Loic Chetout (Cofidis) jumped away from the pack, followed by Peter Kennaugh (Sky), Quentin Jauregui (ag2r-La Mondiale) and Koen Bouwmann (LottoNL-Jumbo). The fugitives built a 1:05-advantage over the peloton led by Giant-Alpecin.

All the teams interested in a bunch sprint contributed to the chase. Chetout was the last rider to be reined in five kilometres from the line. Orica-Bike Exchange went in the front of the bunch inside the final kilometre, perfectly setting up Nielsen for his second stage win in the race. Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff) was second and Gianni Meersman (Etixx-Quick Step) came home third. … continued after advert

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Nairo Quintana: “Yesterday, when I crossed the finish line in Aitana, I finally could feel pure joy and calmness. We had got through a big day, a difficult one, where we could have lost it all. It didn’t happen – thanks to the big team that supported me. They helped me out from the very beginning, and all the way through these three weeks. Riders, sports directores, mechanics, carers… the whole group took care of me and remained there for everything I needed. They really deserve this win, they deserve to enjoy this.

“I came into this Vuelta with a grudge after not being able to really contest the win in the Tour – yet very calm. The training rides I went on prior to the race showed that my fitness level was good, the data was telling me I could aspire to get a good result, and the team offered me their confidence from the start of the race. It kicked off with a great team time trial, where we lost by barely a fraction of a second, and from the very first week, my team-mates always kept me at the front and fought every single day so I didn’t lose terrain on stages that didn’t favour me. That was one of the keys to me winning this Vuelta.

“At La Camperona, when I took those meters in front of my main rivals, I saw that I was really going strong – then I pledged to dig deep and really go for the GC win. I transferred that confidence to my team, I wanted to let them know I could fight for victory and I needed their support, which I always got. And after Covadonga, and the first leader’s jersey, came Formigal, the place where we re-confirmed our condition and intentions. There, the huge job by my team-mates was most visible, fundamental to reach that time advantage that could let me enter the Calpe TT not so stressed and remain in red before Aitana.

“This Vuelta win means a whole lot to me. At the Tour, I reached the podium more out of class rather than legs. I didn’t feel well in France, yet I found my best condition here. Also, it was a race with almost all all big GC names in the peloton present: a huge Chris Froome; Alberto Contador, who is one you must always keep an eye on; Chaves and Orica… Winning the race this way, and against them, makes it even more valuable.”

Chris Froome: told TeamSky.com: “This has definitely been my most successful season to date. I think I can be happy with how things have gone. Of course I can’t help but have wanted more out of this Vuelta – but at the same time it’s been a great race. As a team we’ve fought hard.”

“I think we learnt a lesson on stage 15 and we weren’t prepared at the beginning of the stage. Inevitably that cost us the race – but I think we can still be happy with what we’ve achieved here. Second place overall, winning the team time trial, winning on Pena Cabarga was a special day for me, and also the time trial. So I think all in all I’m certainly going into the office season looking forward to spending some time with the family, and happy with how things have gone.”

“The fans are one of the reasons why I love coming to the Vuelta,” he added. “The people make the race really special. The passion of the fans, and the way they cheer for all the riders, not just the Spanish riders, makes it really special and enjoyable. At the same time it’s one of the hardest races on our calendar, but enjoyable at the same time.

“I definitely think (the double) is possible. I’ve finished second here and I won the Tour. So I came close, and I’ll have to be back again in the future to try again. Maybe that could be my objective for next year.”

Alberto Contador “I enjoyed racing at the Vuelta but, obviously, I am not happy with the fourth place. This was not at all our goal at the start, our aim was to win. Yesterday, we lost the podium spot but this doesn’t worry me. I could say I am satisfied overall with the way I raced and we lived a few days of incredible cycling that thrilled the crowds.

“I will now discuss with the team what the schedule is for the end of the season. We will see what we can achieve in terms of WorldTour Team ranking. This being the final year of Tinkoff it is important to close the curtain on a high note. Last but certainly not least, I would like to express my gratitude to the Spanish public. Their support made me hang on and not abandon. In every village and town we went through it was amazing to hear them cheering me. I feel fortunate to be able to live that.”

Stage winner Cort said after “This is unbelievable. This is my first Grand Tour. It was incredible to get one stage but to get this one in Madrid too is amazing. Plus we had two other stage wins, a podium and two in the top ten overall. It’s been an amazing month with this group.”

Final Overall
1 QUINTANA Nairo MOVISTAR TEAM 83h 31′ 28”
2 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY + 01′ 23”
3 CHAVES Johan Esteban ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE + 04′ 08”
4 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF + 04′ 21”
5 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE-DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM + 07′ 43”
6 YATES Simon ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE + 08′ 33”
7 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX – QUICK STEP + 11′ 18”
8 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel MOVISTAR TEAM + 13′ 04”
9 FORMOLO Davide CANNONDALE-DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM + 13′ 17”
10 BENNETT George LOTTO NL -JUMBO + 14′ 07”
11 SCARPONI Michele ASTANA PRO TEAM + 15′ 33”
12 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM + 15′ 57”
13 PÉRAUD Jean-Christophe AG2R LA MONDIALE + 18′ 22”
14 HERMANS Ben BMC RACING TEAM + 19′ 10”
15 SILIN Egor TEAM KATUSHA + 22′ 05”
16 MONFORT Maxime LOTTO SOUDAL + 29′ 37”
17 BAKELANTS Jan AG2R LA MONDIALE + 36′ 30”
18 PARDILLA Sergio CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA + 38′ 38”
19 ZUBELDIA Haimar TREK – SEGAFREDO + 40′ 29”
20 ELISSONDE KENNY FDJ + 42′ 26”

STAGE
1 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE 02h 48′ 52”
2 BENNATI Daniele TINKOFF + 00′ 00”
3 MEERSMAN Gianni ETIXX – QUICK STEP + 00′ 00”
4 SBARAGLI Kristan DIMENSION DATA + 00′ 00”
5 ARNDT Nikias TEAM GIANT ALPECIN + 00′ 00”
6 MANZIN Lorenzo FDJ + 00′ 00”
7 HARDY Romain COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS + 00′ 00”
8 RESTREPO Jhonatan TEAM KATUSHA + 00′ 00”
9 SELIG Rüdiger BORA-ARGON 18 + 00′ 00”
10 PUCCIO Salvatore TEAM SKY + 00′ 00”

37 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY + 00′ 00”
49 YATES Simon ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE + 00′ 00”
139 THWAITES Scott BORA-ARGON 18 + 01′ 17”
140 CARTHY Hugh CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA + 01′ 17”
143. KENNAUGH Peter TEAM SKY 02h 50′ 09” + 01′ 17”

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