Quintana hopes for recovery while Malori announces retirement

Nairo Quintana still hopes to recover after a lack of energy brought him setbacks early in the Tour de France.

Following Adriano Malori’s retirement announcement (see below), which opened Monday’s Movistar Team press conference on the first rest day of the 2017 Tour de France, Nairo Quintana spoke to the media. The Colombian analyzed his situation in the ‘Grande Boucle’ and reflected on his hopes to make up the 2’13” deficit he has on the leader’s jersey, now sitting 8th overall before the Pyrenees, the Massif Central and the Alps. Excerpts from his reactions to the journalists’ questions follow below:

“So far it’s been more about will than might,” he said about his 8th place position in the General Classification. “We’re still up for the fight, though, and we’ll try to keep improving. We have lost some time until yesterday, and to be honest, it was only due to lack of energy. However, there’s still a long way to go in this Tour, and we’re so determined to do great things in what’s to come. I’m not going through my best moment as a pro, that’s obvious, but I still hope to go through some ‘brilliant’ days in the remainder of the race.

“It’s true that I’ve got many racing days on my shoulders, considering I completed the Giro. I don’t know if I’ll get better during the next two weeks or not. But I’m really hopeful about finding my best legs, even for one day, and I can just hope it’s in an important stage.

“It might look as through Froome is doing slightly worse than in previous years, and many riders are quite close to each other. That’s why I don’t consider it’s a big gap already for me behing them. If I find that great day, anything can still happen.”

Sunday’s Queen stage

“I felt good yesterday and I continue to do so today, but it’s evident that I’m not finding the same watts on my legs as I expected to do before the race,” Quintana commented. “We all were convinced about my chances to shine right from the start, but at the end, it’s only about the ‘here’ and ‘now’, and I didn’t respond well.

“I also felt scared at the descents yesterday. Fortunately, I could get through what could have been one of the worst crashes in my career. When Majka fell, I was right behind him, and I didn’t have any time to avoid him. I barely managed – I don’t know how – to jump over him and prevent myself from crashing. I don’t know what could have happened for me, because we were racing at 70kph. When I went to sleep in the night and started reflecting on the day’s events, I realized that, only by the fact that I got through that accident, I had to be really happy about my result.”

Giro-Tour double

“I’m not regretful at all about having ridden the Giro. It was a gamble, something different. We still have a lot to learn in cycling, and we will draw many positive and negative conclusions about these months in order to improve in the future.

“It’s true that I have ridden all of the last four Grand Tours, but I also enjoyed some good breaks, had a winter between them, stayed weeks away from competition between all of them – there’s of course many things we can improve, though. It’s the first time we ride both the Giro and the Tour in the same season – the Giro was really hard and the pace here at the Tour hasn’t been slow, either.”

Valverde’s absence

“It’s evident that we are really missing Alejandro. He’s left a big void inside this team. We have really lacked help like his at many points of the race, also from a strategical point of view. His absence forces everyone to work even harder to make up for it.”

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Adriano Malori announces retirement from pro cycling

Supported by Eusebio Unzué and his teammates racing the Tour de France, Adriano Malori announced on Monday his retirement from professional cycling during the rest day press conference.

The 29-year-old Italian – an ITT vice world champion in 2015, Giro d’Italia GC leader and stage winner in the Vuelta a España- claimed his biggest victory away from cycling, though, completing a sensational recovery from neurological injuries sustained at a serious crash in the 2016 Tour de San Luis.

“We all knew what happened in Argentina. I’ve spent two years battling against that dreadful day, and I won, even though it wasn’t a complete victory. My goal in life, though – and that’s what I’ve explained to Eusebio – was to do something special in cycling. It won’t be possible to do it as a rider, so it will have to be in another day. Today marks the start of ‘Adriano Malori 2.0′. I’ve already spent one month learning some cycling science, trying to work my way in the future as one who can help on that. I’m getting lots of support from the Italian Federation, as well as two friends who are part of this team: Mikel Zabala and Manu Mateo.

“I’ve given everything to try and become a professional cyclist again, but this year’s results have been quite evident. At the Volta ao Alentejo, I only rode 80km. In the Vuelta a Castilla y León, I barely managed to ride 30km. Giving it a try was the only way to know if I was ready or not. I can still ride a bike leisurely, but the racing is not something I can cope with. Still, my recovery has been impressive. And it’s not my word, rather than the doctors’. That’s the first positive conclusion I draw from this: everyone who suffers from the same injuries I did can now know there’s someone like me who got back from his suffering, one who defied all knowledge and beat his illness. It’s the most important side of my story. It’s about bringing hope to many people, even it I wasn’t able to come back as a top rider. As I said during the ‘Informe Robinson’ documentary we recorded with Movistar+ back in November: if you want to do something, you can. I’ll always say that, and that’s the message everyone should follow.

“Movistar has been a very beautiful side of my life, not only about the sport I love. I’ve found magnificent people here, great friends, a true family. I’ve always have a big place in my heart for this green M. It was a big honour to race with them, and they were so, so supportive in my recovery, cheering on me when I needed it. To everyone at the Movistar Team -riders, staff, support-: don’t forget you have a nice meal waiting for you in Parma! (laughs)”