Nairo Quintana: "I tried to do the best time possible”

On the line

“The Tour de France started with an individual time trial on the streets of Copenhagen. I started well, being careful because it rained a lot during my race. It was a very fast time trial, designed for real specialists. But I rode well. I had a good feeling and I tried to do the best time possible in order to be well placed in the general classification at the beginning of the Tour de France”.

“There were a lot of people on the side of the road, but I was concentrated where I put my wheels, because the course was urban and with the rain it added some difficulty. I had fun, not as much as I hoped but we are only at the very beginning of this Tour de France. I was happy this morning, but the closer we got to the start, the more I felt the stress rising, and on the start ramp I realised where I was, maybe that’s what cut my legs a little bit, but it’s still just happiness. And my wish is to enjoy the three weeks of the race.

“It was a beautiful course with lots of people coming to cheer us on. The Tour is still the Tour. It’s magical. It’s my ninth Tour, and it’s always the same happiness. The route was not easy, the rain came, but that’s how it is. I am happy to be here, I hope to be successful on this Tour and to be able to express myself on this event. I am happy to see people on the road again, the presentation was already huge. I had experienced that during my first tour in Utrech, and that makes us forget the previous years”.