Nairo Quintana: "I tried to take as many points as possible”
Nairo, who finished the stage in Andorra in 6th position, scored 14 points for the best climber jersey. He is now 3rd tonight, ten points behind the first place, whereas the next big Pyrenean climbs are coming up in the next days.
GettyImages
On the line…
“I tried to take advantage of it and I was happy to be encouraged by the supporters of the Arkéa-Samsic team and the many Colombians who were present. On the first climbs, I was in direct confrontation with opponents who were surrounded by several team-mates. I tried to make the difference in the final on the Envalira pass, which was over 2000 meters high, and then on the Beixalis pass in order to take as many points as possible. I like the passes of the Pyrenees and I hope that my good legs of today will be the same for the next stages in this mountain range”.
“I went to the end of my strength after my crash, from that moment on it didn’t work at all. I didn’t want to give up, but the stage of the day before had already cost me a lot because I was dropped at the start with only two other riders. It’s hard to give up the Tour”.
Débrief…
“Nacer had been in trouble since his crash, he was suffering from his back and thigh. He had already struggled yesterday to finish the stage, but today, at the pace of this first stage in the Pyrenees, we knew that it was going to be a complicated day for him. He had been on probation for three days, he fought until the end, but we quickly noticed that even if he finished he was out of time. We will remember his record in the Tour with three podiums. We still have three riders left in the race, but we are keeping our goals with Nairo, Elijah and Connor: to try to win a stage and bring the polka dot jersey back to Paris. We have one week left and we will have goals on all the stages“.