Nairo Quintana wrapped up the overall win at Route du Sud today, marking his third stage race victory of 2016 and to cap it off for Movistar, his team-mate Marc Soler finished in second place.
Quintana’s victory was his second win in the race, having won his first Route du Sud overall in 2012 at the age of 22 which was just his second stage race win in Europe.
Since then, he has gone on to win the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco and Tirreno-Adriatico amongst other victories. This year, he has also won the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and the Tour de Romandie making him of the top favourites to win the Tour de France which starts in two week’s time.
The work from the whole Movistar Team to take care of the Colombian during the 155km stage five which consisted of eight laps of a circuit in the Astarac countryside, in and around the village of Clermont-Pouyguillès, with as many climbs of the Côte de Moncassin (Cat-3) was flawless thanks to the experience from Imanol Erviti, Rory Sutherland, José Herrada, Dayer Quintanaand José Joaquín Rojas.
His team kept him out of trouble and after the day’s breakaway was caught, it was set up for a sprint finish which was taken by Arnaud Démare (FDJ) with Quintana finishing safely in the bunch.
Nairo Quintana: “It’s a very important victory. I was coming into this event following long weeks of training in atlitude at home in Colombia, and I could confirm I’m in good form. Legs have gone as usual for me in the mountains and it seems obvious that I’ve improved quite a bit into the time trial. Friday, I rode the 2016 Canyon Speedmax TT bike for the first time – it’s really great, and this technological progress makes your efforts worth.
“The team did really well: great job from them from the beginning to the end of the race, crowning it today after a mountain stage where they rode fantastically, including Marc’s win. Both victories in the race -this overall win I confirmed today and my first success in 2012- have been really significant into my sporting career and for my preparations for the Tour. Reaching the ‘Grande Boucle’ this way feels really good.”
