Andorra la Vella In Andorra, winter is slowly beginning to appear. Our protagonist arrives without making a noise, a usual occurrence for him, in long cycling clothes and at 9.30 am sharp. Coincidence or not, it is the same time that he named his coffee brand. According to a study, the best time to drink the first coffee of the day. Nairo Quintana, a 33-year-old Colombian cyclist, is asking for his cappuccino usual and he is aware that we want to know about his future. The one from Boyacá reflects and measures each answer before going out to train.
The coming months are key sportingly for Nairo, who remains without a team since traces of tramadol were detected in his body at the 2022 Tour de France. It is a substance that, according to the AMA (World Anti-Doping Agency), was not on the list of doping substances. The UCI (International Cycling Union), however, stripped him of sixth place in the 2022 Tour because tramadol was banned during competitions due to its side effects on health. From next January it will be a prohibited substance. Cycling stuff.
During this year and few months without official competition, the Colombian has had time to reinvent himself off the road while still dreaming of putting on a number again. “Leaving the competition was difficult and I hope it is not a stage that is already over, because I will continue to compete in some races. Thanks to my wife, who was my neighbor when we were little and with whom we have been together for 15 years, I have been able to focus on other personal projects. She and my children have made these months less hard, really,” he says.
Family and origins have been a lifeline to cling to amid a sea of doubts and rumours. Coffee and the countryside as an answer to unanswered questions and a few months away from what has been his life, from bike races, from the adrenaline unleashed by descending a port in the middle of the Alps and the exhaustion of attacking in the last port of the stage. “Normally, people associate the countryside with poverty, because it is a very sacrificed world, but I think there is more poverty in the cities with people who do not make ends meet than in the countryside. We never lacked nothing and we could actually help other people. And that makes me very happy,” recalls Nairo. “My father has always been a man who worked the land growing all kinds of food. Today I remember it and it makes me cry with happiness, because it makes me proud of where I come from,” he adds.
The happiest years of his life
The lack of competition hasn’t made a cyclist who won a Giro d’Italia and a Vuelta a España lose motivation who continues to pedal, now through Andorra, with the enthusiasm of the boy who grew up in the fields of Boyacá. Experience and perspective make him appreciate what really matters to him, as he hopes to feel the nerves of competition in his stomach again. “Having to sleep and eat is my wealth. The happiest years of my life, honestly, were as a child. With my family, my dogs and surrounded by my environment,” admits the Colombian. “Now I notice that the materialism to which the world has led us has made us lose the notion of what is really important. I feel like there used to be real friends, now we have a million friends on social media that you tell them about things that may not be of interest to them. They’re not the kind of friends you give them a hug and notice how their heart really beats,” he reflects. “Before, we used to call each other to find out how we were doing, and now we send each other a message for engagement. For me this is not friendship, it is not wealth or happiness.”
And between these calls and messages, for now, the Colombian has not received the one that makes him return to the professional circuit. A silence that, according to him, has not disturbed or disappointed him. Before answering, Nairo pauses to ponder his answer. “Those who are true friends have been by my side and have shown me their support. I really felt a lot of love from people and it was something I needed. I feel very happy and very calm about the future and if beautiful and important things are to come, they should be taken advantage of because it will fill me with excitement. And, if they don’t come, we’ll move on thanks to the love people have shown me.”
He dreams of returning to competition
Quintana looks into the eyes of the person he is talking to with the conviction that, whatever happens, he will move on. “I dream of competing and doing incredible things. I have always had the peace of mind to sleep well and peacefully. My family has not allowed me to sink at any point. Also, my culture has caused me to turn the page, get up to write a new one, and keep looking forward. I will never run out of pen ink to keep writing pages. I assure you that on the bike I don’t stop thinking about the projects I will work on when I get off the bike,” says Nairo.
The future is uncertain for a cyclist who has never been one to plan his attacks in a race. Sensations have always done the rest and now the question is whether the sensations, the attacks and the calls will return. He, it is clear, wants to write one last page again.
2023-10-14 12:07:22
#True #friends #side
