Cyclist Nairo Quintana, of the Arkea-Samsic, was hit by a car this Friday while training on a Colombian highway and will be evaluated by a doctor “to rule out serious injuries.” “This morning I was hit by a car … I had no way to see it, I was on the white line, and I was hit by a vehicle,” said the award-winning Colombian runner in a video posted on Twitter.
The ‘beetle’, champion of the 2014 Giro d’Italia and 2016 Vuelta a Espana, said he felt “good”, although he hit his right knee, left thigh and left elbow.
The Colombian Cycling Federation explained the details of the accident in a statement and assured that “in the next few hours Nairo will be evaluated by his personal doctor to rule out serious injuries.”
On a highway in the municipality of Motavita, in the department of Boyacá (center), where Nairo Quintana and his brother Dayer were training, «a vehicle appeared (…) passed the accompanying car, after this maneuver it closed on the rail in the one that the cyclists were rolling, hitting Nairo who fell to the ground », detailed the federation.
“The vehicle involved in the accident attempted to escape the scene but the accompanying car pursued it” and prevented their flight, he added.
Thank you all for your messages of encouragement and support. I feel good, “Quintana wrote on Twitter.
Hope on the Tour
The 30-year-old coffee rider left the Movistar team and has had a promising start to the season in his debut with Frenchman Arkea-Samsic. He won the last stage of Paris-Nice, in which the German Maximilian Schachmann (Bora) conquered the title.
Quintana, winner in February in Provence and in the Tour of the Maritime Alps, returns to the club of the aspiring yellow jersey, four years after having taken the podium for the third time (2nd in 2013 and 2015 and 3rd in 2016).
Emmanuel Hubert signed him at the end of last season for Arkea-Samsic and described him as an applied and professional runner in his approach.
In the Breton formation, Quintana has his little brother Dayer and another Colombian, also a former Movistar, Winner Anacona.
The platoon opens a bracket without competition until the situation with the global coronavirus pandemic is clarified. Meanwhile, the cyclist prepares in the Andes mountains of Colombia, in the department of Boyacá, where he was born.
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