In a very busy stage, in which Tadej Pogacar attacked the leader Jonas Vingegaard, without success, the great beneficiary of the day was the Colombian Nairo Quintana, who kept up with the first two in the general classification.
Nairo moved up two spots in the standings and is now in fourth place, nine seconds ahead of Frenchman David Gaudu in fifth, and 1:13 ahead of Adam Yates. And it is 1:32 from the bottom of the podium, which Geraint Thomas occupies today.
The boyacense spoke about what happened in stage 16 and what is to come in the two high mountain stages in the Pyrenees, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Nairo, satisfied with the balance of the day
The strength that he showed. “I have been very good. During this Tour I have been very regular. Regular, on a good average. This stage is already known. I had been second in a year. Fortunately, the force was with me. As a team we did very well. We had two breakaway runners who helped me. In the end I was able to arrive well with them. Too bad we didn’t have another man to accelerate. Then Thomas and Gaudu arrived, who are key to the general classification. In case they were left alone, I would have been more favourable.
Criticism of the Arkea team. “Keep holding on. We are very motivated. As we said when we arrived at the Tour: we are a competitive team. Those who point out to us that we are the ones who take points in small races. We have been very good in Paris-Nice, in the Tour of Catalonia and other races. We’re a competitive team. We deserve to be on the World Tour and we’re going to get there.”
The help of your peers. “This is a young team, which is growing, which is learning. We do not compare ourselves with an Ineos, with a Jumbo, which have men with a lot of experience, very mature, I am giving them the experience, they are learning and we are working quite well”.
This is how Nairo will face the stages of the Pyrenees
The sensations for the mountain. “I was very good, I had a good leg. I hope to be able to stay in these days that come in the mountains and once again the illusion of being on the podium”.
How will the next two stages run?. “We are going to see how the race moves, we have seen attacks, movements today, we hope that God gives us wisdom to make the best choice and get the most out of it.”
How to follow Vingegaard and Pogacar. “Wheel to wheel, you know you’re not going to hurt them, we’ve seen our rivals for third place on the podium and that’s what we’re working on. Fortunately it is a very good sign, the body and the legs worked very well today and we hope that these days will be similar”.
SPORTS
#Nairo #Quintana #firm #excited #reaching #podium #Tour