At 36 years of age and following 17 professional seasons, Colombian climbing specialist Nairo Quintana will bring his illustrious career to a close at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, Canada, on Sunday, September 27, 2026. The announcement marks the final chapter for a pioneering figure in South American cycling who broke barriers in the European peloton over nearly two decades.
Quintana will forever be remembered as the first Colombian rider to win a Grand Tour, capturing the Giro d’Italia in 2014 before adding the Vuelta a España crown two years later in 2016. Across his career, he also secured three podium finishes at the Tour de France during his first three appearances—finishing second in 2013 and 2015, and third in 2016—each time finishing behind British powerhouse Christopher Froome. Along the way on the Grande Boucle, Quintana claimed two white jerseys as the best young rider and one polka dot jersey as the King of the Mountains, accumulating eight stage wins across cycling’s three-week Grand Tours.
Originally, Quintana’s retirement plans were tied to the 2026 Vuelta a España with his long-time Spanish squad Movistar. However, after team management opted for a roster featuring Enric Mas, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Orluis Aular, Pablo Castrillo, Raúl García Pierna, Iván Romeo, Jorge Arcas, and Carlos Canal, Quintana was left off the selection. Movistar director Eusebio Unzué noted prior to the race that leaving out the Colombian legend was an exceptionally difficult choice driven purely by sporting criteria and shifting team requirements following the season’s adjustments.
Rather than bowing out in Spain, Quintana received a final call-up from Colombian national coach William Vargas to represent his country at the Montreal World Championships. The 214.4-kilometer elite men’s road race on September 27 features a demanding positive elevation gain across 16 ascensions of the Camillien-Houdt circuit, providing a fittingly brutal terrain for the veteran climber’s final test. Quintana will line up alongside compatriots Egan Bernal, Santiago Buitrago, Sergio Higuita, Harold Tejada, Brandon Rivera, and Walter Vargas.
“The World Championship will be my last competition at a professional level. I feel very happy because I will be able to represent my country in such an important event and, in the same way, close this great sporting cycle at the Cycling World Championships,” Quintana stated.
Emmanuel Hubert, former manager of French team Arkéa-Samsic where Quintana raced from 2020 through 2022, emphasized the rider’s immense cultural stature in South America. “There was Lucho Herrera, but Nairo is number one in Colombia, even ahead of Egan Bernal, because he is the first to have won a Grand Tour,” Hubert observed. “In several taxis down there, I amused myself by asking who the most respected sportsman and best-known personality was. Two names stood out: Shakira and Quintana.”
Raised in the high-altitude mountain town of Tunja in the Boyacá region at 2,800 meters above sea level, Quintana developed his trademark climbing legs out of sheer necessity during a modest childhood. His father, Luis Guillermo, cobbled together a heavy, 20-kilogram mountain bike that young Nairo rode 16 kilometers downhill to school and 16 grueling kilometers uphill on the return trip. “By nature, I’ve always liked to climb, but anyway, I had to get home somehow,” Quintana recalled of his early years.
Quintana’s professional journey began in 2009 with the local team Boyacá Es Para Vivirla before he transitioned to the Colombia Es Pasion Team to gain European exposure. In 2010, his dominance in the high mountain passes delivered overall victory and two stage wins at the Tour de l’Avenir in France. In 2012, he made the permanent leap to Europe by signing with Movistar, instantly capturing the Tour of Murcia, the Route du Sud, and a stage win at the Critérium du Dauphiné before completing his debut Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España.
Though an irregular period interrupted his career—including a 2022 disqualification from the Tour de France for violating medical rules regarding an prohibited pain reliever—Quintana returned to the Movistar colors for the 2024 season following a year without a contract. He walks away from the professional peloton without ever capturing the elusive yellow jersey of the Tour de France, yet firmly cemented in the pantheon of cycling history.
Fans and followers can track live coverage and official results of the elite men’s road race as the 2026 UCI Road World Championships conclude in Montreal on September 27. Readers are encouraged to share their favorite memories of Quintana’s legendary mountain attacks in the comments below.
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