Nairo Quintana has already paid the consequences for what happened, says Movistar boss

Nairo Quintana has been welcomed back with open arms by Movistar after the Colombian signed a one-year contract for 2024, and according to his future team, the veteran has paid for his past and should be a competitive force from the moment he starts racing.

Quintana was part of the Movistar squad between 2012 to 2019 and established himself as one of the best riders in the world. He won the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España during that phase of his career and finished second in the Tour de France on two occasions. 

A move to Arkéa-Samsic followed in 2020 but in 2022 he tested positive for Tramadol during the Tour de France. He was stripped of his top-10 result, and despite the drug not being on the World Anti Doping Agency's (WADA) banned list at the time, it was  - and still is - banned by the UCI. The Colombian was let go by Arkéa at the end of the season and spent all of 2023 searching for a team.

Read more: In limbo: Nairo Quintana drops in on the Vuelta a España

Movistar stepped forward and a one-year deal was agreed in recent weeks.

“We’d been talking to him for a couple of months and we partly had the responsibility of giving him the chance to not exit the sport the way he was being forced to,” Movistar’s Sebastián Unzué told GCN.

“He didn’t have many options and we finally made the decision to take him for next year. And to be honest we’re really happy about it.”

Movistar, like all teams, could have signed Quintana at the start of 2023 but despite links with several teams, including Soudal Quick-Step and Bahrain Victorious, the 33-year-old remained on the market. Movistar could have stepped in at that point but with their roster settled for the season, and their objectives already agreed, they decided to hold fire.

“Nothing stopped us at that point. We just didn’t even consider it back then,” Unzué said. “We had other goals then and it wasn’t until a couple of months ago that we discussed it. All the conversations have been this year.”

Ready to race

According to reports, Quintana has maintained his fitness levels despite a lack of WorldTour racing over the last twelve months. Movistar are taking a gamble with the rider given his age and time away from the sport, and while the team are confident that the rider can hit the ground running, they’re also not heaping pressure on their new recruit.

“Back then, when he was first with us, he was one of the top five riders in the world. He will be 34 next year and it’s not easy to get back after a year of not racing. We need to be a little bit more prudent and not think about him coming back and being the Nairo that we’ve had here in his best years. But even if we don’t have the best Nairo, he is still a rider with huge talent. We know him really well and he will fit into the team perfectly. Even if he’s not at his highest level he will be a very positive addition to the team,” Unzué added.

Some teams are likely to have been hesitant when it came to signing Quintana due to his Tramadol case, but Unzué said it wasn’t a factor in their decision-making and that the team felt that they had a moral responsibility to give the rider another chance. The team did the same for Alejandro Valverde after the Spanish rider returned from a doping ban mid-way through his career.

“Nairo has already paid for the consequences of what happened more than a year ago. All those issues have been solved already and there was no hesitation,” Unzué said.

Giro d'Italia and squad depth

Quintana’s 2024 racing schedule has yet to be finalised but a role at the Giro d’Italia is certainly a possibility. Unzué isn’t looking too far ahead, however, and will monitor the rider’s progress through the early months of the season.

“First we need to start the season and start on the right foot. We’ll see where’s at and we’ll discover once he gets a bib number pinned to his back, the level he’s at. Until then it’s not intelligent to make any further plans on where he’s going to be in terms of leadership or where he’s going to work for others. I’m convinced that he’s going to be competitive, that’s for sure, but I don’t know at what level to be honest. He’s a rider who starts the season quite well, and he’s been working his ass off all year, training as if he was ready to race.”

Overall, Movistar have had a successful transfer window. Along with Quintana’s arrival the team has been active in the market, picking up names such as Rémi Cavagna and Davide Formolo from rival WorldTour squads. Matteo Jorgenson has departed, and the team missed out on Carlos Rodríguez after the Spaniard reneged on a letter of intent to eventually extend his deal with Ineos Grenadiers.

“If we look at the team and compare it to what we had on the roster this year, I think that we have a better all round team for 2024,” Unzué said.

"There’s obviously losses, starting with Matteo Jorgenson but there’s also some big riders coming in. For sure, Formolo and Cavagna are established and proven riders. They’re different and reinforce the team in different areas and then they’re other riders coming to the team who are younger projects who have the ability to to get a lot better. I think that we’ll have a few surprises with these guys because they’re ready to step into the most important races. Overall, we should be happy with how the transfer market has gone. Obviously there have been some disappointments along the way but that’s part of cycling."