The boyacense cyclist Nairo Quintanawho defends himself from his disqualification from the 2022 Tour de France due to a medical infraction, said this Friday that he will not continue racing with the team Arkea Samsic the next season.
Nairo’s goodbye
In mid-August, the 32-year-old rider had renewed his link with the French squad until 2025, after finishing sixth in the Tour and one day before being disqualified from the race for having taken the painkiller Tramadol, which
Quintana denies.
“I want to announce that I will not continue with the Arkéa Samsic team for the next seasons as we had announced”, he said in a video posted on his Instagram account.
“We are going to keep pedaling forward (…) I want to continue showing the runner that I am,” he added, without giving more details about his future in the peloton.
The Colombian has an ongoing appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), for which he remains eligible for official competitions. However, after the disqualification he gave up participating in the Vuelta España, which he won in 2016.
“I have presented my defense before the TAS (…) I am optimistic because I am honest. I am honest, I have not done anything wrong, illegal”emphasized Quintana, runner-up in the ‘Grande Boucle’ in 2013 and 2015 with the Spanish team Movistar.
Hours later, Arkea came forward with a succinct statement.
(You can read: Nairo Quintana: the arguments he would have to save himself from the sanction in the TAS).
The coldness of the Arkea
In 2020, Arkéa Samsic – which belongs to the second division of cycling – surprised with the hiring of the Colombian, who showed his best version this year by winning the Tour de la Provence and finishing in the top ten of the Tour de France.
“I want to thank the team for these three years… we had ups, downs but I was able to deliver all my experience,” Quintana said in his statement.
to those words, Arkea met them with a brief statement:
“Nairo Quintana has announced the end of the collaboration between him and the Arkea Samsic team that began in 2020. The Arkea Samsic formation confirms the non-renewal of Nairo Quintana’s contract, which was to take effect from 2023. The Arkea Samsic formation will not make any further comments in this regard.”
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*With AFP
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