Not quite the last dance – Quintana reveals one more race after Worlds

Nairo Quintana lined up for his final World Championships in Montreal on Sunday, but he has revealed that he will ride one more race as a professional before formally bringing an end to his career.

After announcing in March that he would retire at the end of this season, Quintana was expected to bring the curtain down on his career at the Vuelta a España. However, Quintana was surprisingly omitted from the Movistar line-up, and it was then assumed that the Montreal Worlds would be his final act as a pro rider.

Speaking to Eurosport before the start of the elite men’s road race on Sunday, Quintana indicated that he would line up one final time in Movistar colours before exiting the pro peloton.

“Yes, next week I’ll be doing my final race with my team, and that will be my last professional race,” Quintana said, though he was coy about naming the specific race. “In Italy. I’ll talk more about it later, but yes, I’ll be in Italy next week.”

The only race on the Italian calendar in the next week is the Giro dell’Emilia on Saturday, with the Coppa Agostoni, Tre Valli Varesine, Gran Piemonte and Il Lombardia taking place the following week. 

Quintana won the Giro dell'Emilia in 2012 and he has lined up in the race in each of the past two seasons.

Quintana has not raced since the Vuelta a Burgos in August, but he lined up on Sunday in a Colombian team that included Santiago Buitrago and Sergio Higuita. The Montreal Worlds is his first since Wollongong in 2022, where he competed shortly after the announcement of his positive test for Tramadol on that year’s Tour de France. The 36-year-old would subsequently sit out the 2023 season after departing Arkéa-Samsic before rejoining Movistar ahead of the 2024 campaign. 

“I’m very, very happy,” Quintana said in Montreal, pointing out that his first Worlds experience came as an under-23 in Mendrisio in 2009.

“I took part for the first time 17 years ago, and finishing today alongside all these young riders brings me immense joy to represent my country. And well, there aren’t many races left now. With this one behind us, there’s just one more to go, so I’m very happy.”

Quintana signalled his retirement ahead of the Volta a Catalunya in March, bringing an end to a career that saw him win the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. He also finished on the podium of the Tour de France in 2013, 2015 and 2016.