Pau (AFP)
Leader of the Tour of Spain, Nairo Quintana acknowledged Monday that he expected to give the red jersey to his dolphin Primoz Roglic in an individual time trial Tuesday between Jurançon and Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), but the Colombian promised to do everything then to "recover".
"At least today (Monday), I'm leader," said the small climber Movistar team on the first day of rest of the Vuelta, Pau, the day after his takeover in the mountains Andorra.
Quintana (29), winner of the Tour of Spain in 2016, knows nevertheless that his red leader's jersey is hanging by a thread since he is only six seconds ahead of the Slovenian Roglic, one of the best riders in the pack.
"Even if we have the red jersey, Roglic is only a handful of seconds," the Colombian admitted. "We knew it, we said it from the beginning: the favorite is Roglic, with the + chrono + coming and with the advance that he will take since it is a specialist."
Before the 36.2-kilometer time trial scheduled for the 9th of the 21 stages of the Vuelta, Colombian climber Miguel Angel Lopez (3rd at 17 sec), leader of the Astana team, and the Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde (4th at 20 sec), teammate of Quintana at Movistar, also remain in the fight for the red jersey.
"We have to give everything (Tuesday), absolutely everything, and then with the team, go ahead and try to recover" the red jersey in the mountains stages of Cantabria and Asturias (northern Spain), continued Quintana, recognizing nonetheless that Roglic has seemed very strong in recent days.
"For the moment, we have not seen any moment of weakness in the mountains," he conceded.
In passing, Quintana confirmed Monday that he would leave the Spanish team Movistar at the end of the season, without wanting to reveal his destination. The press evokes a departure towards the French Arkéa-Samsic formation.
© 2019 AFP