Nairo Quintana ruled out of Vuelta a España
Movistar manager Eusebio Unzué has confirmed that Nairo Quintana and Fernando Gaviria will both miss the Vuelta a España, which starts on August 23. Quintana misses out as a result of his crash at the Vuelta a Burgos earlier this month.
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Nairo Quintana will miss the Vuelta a España following his crash at the Vuelta a Burgos. Movistar manager Eusebio Unzué has also indicated that Fernando Gaviria has not made the eight-man selection for the race, which gets under way in Turin on Saturday.
“Nairo was among the doubts, and we have ruled him out of the Vuelta,” Unzué told Colombian radio station RCN. “After his crash at the Vuelta a Burgos, the rider needed time for his recovery.”
The 2016 Vuelta winner crashed heavily on stage 3 of the Vuelta a Burgos and he was a non-starter the following day. Quintana placed 25th overall at the Giro d’Italia this year and he had been expected to double up at the Vuelta.
Movistar are already without the injured Enric Mas for the Vuelta, leaving something of a leadership vacuum for Unzué’s squad. The eight-man line-up is due to be announced on Tuesday, but Unzué confirmed that Gaviria has not made the cut due to the dearth of sprint stages on this year’s race.
“In this Vuelta, there are no more than three or four clear sprint finishes, so for that reason there won’t be many sprinters. It’s a Vuelta with a lot of mountains,” Unzué said. “This is the main reason why Gaviria won’t be there.”
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