Nairo Quintana, the Colombian cyclist who does not give up: the impetus to fight for the podium in the Tour de France

The bikes that dominate the Tour de France 1:20

(CNN Spanish) --

Nairo Quintana is fourth at the moment in the Tour de France.

It's easy to say, but the Colombian cyclist, the best in the history of his country and Latin America, competes against more young people and does so after some difficult seasons.

He is 32 years old and seems determined to leave his name marked in the history of world cycling, with the awareness that in Colombia he is an absolute hero that he can continue to show a lot with his legs.

This July 20 is not just any date for Nairo: beyond Colombia's Independence Day, it is exactly 9 years since the day he won a stage and was crowned mountain champion, best youngster and runner-up in the Tour de France in 2013.

This Wednesday he defended fourth place after rising two places in the general classification on Tuesday.

His experience at altitude was key.

And he is looking for the podium in the difficult stage 18, the high mountain closure, in which Nairo is a specialist.

The current leader of the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard, is 25 years old.

The Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, second, is 23 years old.

An example of tenacity and experience is that of Geraint Thomas, 36 years old and currently third in the general classification.

Only they surpass Quintana.

Nairo, champion of the Giro d'Italia (2014) and the Vuelta a España (2016), twice second in the Tour de France (2013 and 2015) and once second in the Giro (2017), has not been on the podium for 5 years in a of the three great cycling tours of the world.

But this year, already a veteran in a highly controlled and demanding sport, he has stood out for his victories in the Tour La Provence and the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes and Var, as well as placing fifth in the Paris-Nice races. and fourth in the Volta a Catalunya, and now for holding on to the top 10 in the heat of the queen event of world cycling.

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The Colombian, once a great rival of Chris Froome in the Tour de France, is one of the cyclists most followed by the public in the French tour.

After his extensive and successful time with the Movistar Team, he is now the leader of the French team Arkéa Samsic, the athlete from Tunja, Boyacá, wants to return to glory.

The elusive Tour is the race he has always wanted to win and has come close to.

Perhaps without his encouragement in those runner-up finishes, his compatriot Egan Bernal would not have reached the title in 2019. This year Nairo ruled out the Giro precisely to bet on the Tour, as confirmed at the beginning of the year by Emmanuel Hubert, director of the Arkéa.

Nairo was the second Latin American cyclist to win a Grand Tour, after his compatriot Lucho Herrera.

Now he is accompanied by the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (Giro 2019) and Egan Bernal (Tour 2019 and Giro 2021).

Quintana is in 62nd place in the UCI Cycling Hall of Fame (the best Latin American), only two places behind Slovenian Primož Roglič, triple winner of the Vuelta España between 2019 and 2021, who in this edition of the Tour de France he retired at stage 15.

The boyacense was the first cyclist in history to obtain the mountain jersey and the youth jersey in a Tour de France (in 2013).

In addition, he was the fourth cyclist in history to get a podium in the three grand tours in a row: he was third in the 2016 Tour, winner of the 2016 Vuelta a España and second in the 2017 Giro.

His resume is a race of triumphs and endurance.

In 2022 Nairo Quintana has shown that he has no plans to stop.

"We have fought until the end" he told the press on July 20 after stage 17 of the Tour de France.

It is his mantra.

Nairo QuintanaTour de France