Quintana passes Longwy Tour de France test

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Nairo Quintana (Movistar) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Nairo Quintana riding to sign on (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)

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Nairo Quintana in the GC group on stage 3 (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)

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Tour GC hopeful Nairo Quintana stayed casual and relaxed until about an hour before his start — Tour GC hop🎃eful Nairo Quintana stayed casual and relaxed until ꩲabout an hour before his start (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)

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Eusebio Unzue and Nairo Quintana at the Movistar press conference — Eusebio Unzue and🔯 Nairo Quintana at the Movistar pꦜress conference (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

After losing teammate 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Alejandro Valverde to a broken patella 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:on stage 1, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Nairo Quintana (Movistar) passed his first 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Tour de France test without his super domestique. The climb to the citadel of Longwy was never going to prove decisive but the general classification riders risked losing ground in the explosive finale, wher🧸e Peter Sagan emerged victorious.

"It's beautiful to see all the Colombian fans supporting us at both the st🐬arts, finishes and the whole route. It's really charming," said Quintana. "We got through a dangerous day, one with a lot of stress, and that’s the important thing in the beginning of a Tour de France. Thanks to the support of the whole team we got safely through the day, and I finish really calm about all we did today."

"It could have been a day way calmer than we had, but we were also keeping in mind that there would be some battle early in the stage for the breakaway," Arrieta said. "Then in the finale, with all the GC teams trying to keep their leaders at the front and othe♒r ones, like Bora, fighting for the stage, we were obviously in for a fast finish. There was lots of stress, all riders trying to get into good position so as to avoid any splits. Happily, Nairo could get through the day tꦬhanks to good team effort. The guys did things perfectly to keep him safe and in good position."