Colombian Nairo Quintana wins the queen stage of the 2019 Tour of Colombia, but victory ultimately goes to Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez.
Seven months after his victory atop the Col du Portet in the Tour de France, Quintana conquered yet another prestigious climb and took the honours on the Alto de las Palmas, the queen stage of the race.
Quintana launched up to four attacks inside the last 7km of the climb, the first of which helped him reach team-mate Winner Anacona, who had set up the perfect scenario for him to move with a previous acceleration 10km before the end. The final selection, with Nairo alongside Egan Bernal, Iván Sosa (SKY) and Miguel Ángel López (AST), was nearly ruined with 3km to go as a spectator running alongside the riders fell down just before Sosa and Quintana, who had to put a foot to the ground as López flew past.
Despite Sosa and López leaving Nairo behind with 2km remaining, the lack of cooperation between them helped the ‘Cóndor of Boyacá’ bridge back again and launch a final acceleration to notch up his 40th UCI win, the 37th since he landed in the WorldTour with the Movistar Team in 2012 and his first in Colombia as a pro.
“It’s always been hard to win in Colombia when we had a chance to race here,” said Quintana at the finish. “0The two editions of this Tour Colombia have been of a very high competitive standard, and these previous stages were fierce, of brutal competitiveness. However, the love and passion of the fans and all the cheer I had from them all day gave me that final bit of energy I needed to launch the final attack and take the victory. The incident with the spectator? It’s an analogy of life. It happens sometimes – you stumble, you fall down, you’ve got to get back on your feet, rise again and keep fighting to win. That’s what we did today. It’s a victory full of emotions, a day of big happiness, a day when we really worked hard together with the rest of the team, who kept me calm for the entire race. It’s also a celebration I want to share with all Colombians, all Latin people, those who came over from abroad to meet this region, and especially those from here – stay happy, continue to enjoy cycling. Hopefully events like these can live on and prosper!”
Third for Lopez Takes the Top of the Podium
“It was another hard day in the mountains, and once again I have to thank my team for super work and great support during the day,” said Lopez at the conclusion of the race. “Today’s success is (the) team’s success, for sure! I tried to do a smart race, I think I attacked in the right time and, finally, have got a result I was looking for. The final was, maybe, too hard, but I did it until the end and won this race. I am super happy with this victory, especially, because I won here in Colombia!”
Lopez managed to avoid the crash that slowed Quintana, but Quintana had the legs to make the surge in the final kilometer.
In addition to the General Classification wins, Lopez won the jersey of the best young rider of the race.
Stage 6 Brief Results:
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) in 3h57’19”
- Ivan Sosa (Team Sky) at 8″
- Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team) s.t.
- Egan Bernal (Team Sky) at 16″
- Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) at 1’01”
- Daniel Martinez (EF Education First) s.t.
- Jhojan Orlando Garcia Sosa (Manzana Postobon) at 1’27”
- Didier Alonso Chaparro Lopez (Orgullo Paisa) 1’32”
- Sergio Henao (UAE Team Emirates) at 1’36”
- Jonnathan Narvaez (Team Sky) at 1’40”
Final General Classification:
- Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team) at 18h38’32”
- Ivan Sosa (Team Sky) at 4″
- Daniel Martinez (EF Education First) at 42″
- Egan Bernal (Team Sky) at 54″
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) 1’04”
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