Nairo Quintana unfit for GC bid at Giro d'Italia, targets stages instead

Having originally planned to chase the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia in May, Movistar's Nairo Quintana has scaled back his ambitions to stage hunting in light of the injury he sustained at the Volta a Catalunya in March.

"I know that I will not be at the best level, but we are going to look for stage victories and mountain stages," he told AS Colombia at the presentation of his own sportive in his home country.

The Colombian's presence in Italy had been in doubt after he crashed out of stage 7 in Spain, rupturing a tendon in his sternum in the process, along with suffering from a displacement of the collarbone. It was a nasty injury for Quintana and one that could not be aided by surgery.

"I've been in a lot of pain. It was hard," he told Ciclismo a Fondo, citing the difficulties of not knowing how long his absence would be, as opposed to a regular injury with a straightforward rehabilitation process.

"That gives you peace of mind because you have time to recover. This time it has been different, emotionally, quite beaten. But if life has taught me anything, it's how to get up and move on. You have no other choice."

In the weeks that have followed his crash, Quintana has been undergoing rehabilitation at his local Tunja football team in Colombia and, with the help of the Colombian Olympic Committee's official orthopedist, the 34-year-old has been able to resume training on the road.

In an effort to minimise the stress on his sternum and collarbone, Quintana has been riding a mountain bike and it goes without saying that his preparation for the Giro d'Italia has been fractured as a result. Undeterred, however, the winner of the 2014 Giro remains committed to returning to the race for the first time since he finished second to Tom Dumoulin in 2017.

Read more: Giro d’Italia 2024 route revealed

"We are going to get to the Giro d'Italia, maybe not in the way we want or in the best conditions, but we are going to ride well and surely at the end of the last week I will be much better than at the beginning," he said to AS Colombia.

"We're four months into the season and I still haven't gotten my heart pumping. That's an advantage. Clearly, I'm not here to compete in the Giro [GC] or to have a party. I'll be like one more human, suffering like crazy. I know it will be like that because of the path I'm on, but it's important to be there," he later added to Ciclismo a Fondo.

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'The feeling of helplessness has been very great' after the Volta a Catalunya, admitted Quintana

Since ending his first spell at Movistar at the end of 2019, Quintana's once-promising career has been a series of peaks and troughs. The Colombian won a handful of races with Arkéa Samsic but spent a year out of the sport in 2023 after twice testing positive for tramadol at the 2022 Tour de France - in which he placed sixth overall before his result was thrown out.

The painkiller was not banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency at the time, but it was prohibited by the sport's governing body, UCI.

Movistar offered their former champion a lifeline, though, at the beginning of the season and after an unfortunate start to life back in the team's colours, Quintana will return to the site of his first Grand Tour success.

Read more: Giro d'Italia 2024: Five key stages that will decide the winner

After his breakthrough at the 2013 Tour de France in which the youngster finished second to Chris Froome, Quintana became Colombia's first Grand Tour winner since Luis Herrara in 1987 when he won the Giro d'Italia a decade ago.

"It's incredible to look back. I feel young and happy on the bike. When they tell me that a decade has passed I say to myself, 'where has that gone?' I don't know if there will be 10 more left.

"Time passes quickly and full of things. I enjoyed it and now remembering it makes me very excited. Having won such a special race, you fall in love but you suffer. The people push you and the environment is very nice. It's pure passion. I've only raced it twice and both times went very well. I have a special affection for it."

With stage wins on the mind, Quintana will return to the Giro d'Italia on 4 May in Turin, but before then the three-time stage winner will continue his training and recovery in Colombia. He will fly to Italy on the eve of the race and hope to take his first victory in Movistar colours since the 2019 Vuelta a España.

For everything you need to know about the 2024 Giro d'Italia, from the history of the race to this year's route and start list, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub.