Very far in the general classification of the Tour de France after he conceded more than 18 minutes on Friday, Nairo Quintana rode in a different register on Saturday by attacking and surfing through the breakaways.
The Colombian was part of the group of 18 riders who climbed first Le Grand-Bornand. The final of the stage, however, did not go as planned for the winner of the Giro 2014 since he finished only 22nd the stage, 8’34” behind Dylan Teuns.
Despite the disappointment of having been inferior to many of his breakaway companions, Nairo Quintana keeps his spirits up and seems to be thinking about the polka dot jersey.
“The stage was very hard from the start with multiple attacks at the front of the peloton like every day in order to catch the breakaway”, said Quintana. “I had to make a lot of effort to get the good break and then I did the sprints to get some points in the best climber classification. I also played the stage, but it was difficult because there were many of us. I am still progressing day by day and the goal is still to win a stage in this 2021 Tour de France for the team”.
“There is inevitably some disappointment because when you manage to put Nairo in the breakaway, you can only imagine another scenario”, Arkea’s directeur sportif Yvon Ledanois added.
“I would simply say that we were beaten by a stronger rider today, congratulations to Dylan Teuns. Now the 2021 Tour de France is far from over. We have to show our offensive qualities, we have to react. It’s up to us to keep on trying offensive actions, to have this fighting spirit on the next stages in order to get this stage win which is the number one objective of the Arkéa-Samsic team on this Tour. “
