Blazin' Saddles: Can Nairo Quintana do the double?
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ByEurosport
Published 21/01/2017 at 15:26 GMT
While riders grapple with the heat Down Under or the snow in Mallorca and Calpe, Colombia's Nairo Quintana has confirmed his dual tilt at the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France this summer.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) celebrates after stage 20 of the 2016 Vuelta a Espana
Image credit: Eurosport
Before Blazin' Saddles dissects the Tour Down Under next week after the opening race of the WorldTour comes to a conclusion in Adelaide on Sunday, it's time to run through some of this week's main stories – including confirmation of Nairo Quintana's ambitious 2017 race schedule and a sad goodbye to the shamed veteran Luca Paolini.
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Quintana
Image credit: Imago
First up it's that man Quintana, who formally announced this week that he will bid to do what Alberto Contador failed to do in 2015, namely win both the Giro and Tour in the same season.
After weeks of speculation, the 26-year-old Colombian countered an earlier statement made by his Movistar manager Eusebio Unzue and told TV reporters: "The final decision that we are making is to do the Giro and the Tour de France."
Is this a crazy idea?
Time will tell.
But it's worth noting a few things.
Firstly, Quintana has a 100 per cent record at the Giro – winning the maglia rosa in his first and only appearance in the race back in 2014.
Secondly, Quintana hardly set the roads of France on fire last year en-route to finishing third behind Chris Froome and Romain Bardet. But he then improved dramatically in his second Grand Tour appearance of the season, making Froome look rather ordinary while winning the Vuelta a Espana at a relative canter in September.
While the exciting roster for the 2017 Giro is far from weak – indeed, pretty much all the big GC riders appear to be there with the exception of Froome, Bardet and Richie Porte – Quintana, on paper, has the class to use the race to condition himself for July while also putting up a good enough fight to win the thing.
That's probably what he's thinking: win the Giro without breaking a sweat – then go all-in at the Tour and hope that Froome's off the boil.
Is this realistic? It's hard to tell.
The mountainous route in Italy is certainly one that suits him – although the increase in time trial kilometres may make someone like Tom Dumoulin a real threat.
Then there's his countryman Esteban Chaves to consider. Like Quintana, the smiling assassin notched two podium finishes in both the Grand Tours he rode last year; unlike Quintana, Chaves won neither. But while Quintana seems to have plateaued in the past couple of seasons, Chaves is definitely a rider on the up – and his impressive Orica-Scott team also mirror that meteoric rise.
Throw in Dutchmen Steven Kruijswijk and Bauke Mollema, plus the likes of Sky duo Mikel Landa and Geraint Thomas, as well as horizon-broadening Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, and there are many potential obstacles for Quintana to overcome before we even factor in the two favourites: defending champion Nibali and his former understudy Aru.
Aru had a rotten 2016 but will be motivated by the 100th edition of his home race starting in his Sardinian back garden, plus liberated by no longer riding on the same Astana team as old foe Nibali. As for the latter, we should write him off at our peril – just look at what he did last May, turning the Giro around at the death when both Kruijswijk and then Chaves looked odds-on to win.
In short, Quintana has a real battle just sealing the first half of the bargain. And presuming he does enter Milan with the maglia rosa over his shoulders, it won't be the same walk in the park his first Giro win was. He'll have his work cut out to carry that form into the Tour where, once again, Froome will be hitting his peak and will be the man to beat.
Should – as expected – he falter in France, then perhaps we'll see Quintana emulating his team-mate Alejandro Valverde – who rode all three Grand Tours last season – and trying to "save" his season by defending his Vuelta crown.
Because, all things considered, maybe the question should not be so much whether Quintana can do the double, but whether he can even pull off a single.
Paolini: Coke to Caffeine
Moving swiftly on – but staying in the realms of things big in Colombia – the news that Italian veteran Luca Paolini is hanging up his cycling shoes came as no huge surprise this week.
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Luca Paolini
Image credit: Imago
In 2015, Paolini – months after winning Gent-Wevelgem for Katusha – tested positive for cocaine during the Tour de France and was subsequently ejected from the race.
Paolini claimed that he took coke to counter act his addiction to the sleeping medicine Benzodiazepine, but was still landed with an 18-month suspension. Despite turning 40 next week, Paolini has trained hard and harboured hopes of a return to the sport after Christmas. But these were dashed when no one opened the door to the inn when he came knocking.
The setback resulted in perhaps three of the best quotes so far this season from Paolini.
The first: "At Astana, Vinokourov told me that because of my ban he could not hire me. Coming from him that made me laugh." Zing!
The second: "I would've liked to race with Bahrain-Merida, but the Arabian culture doesn't accept the minimum error when it comes to alcohol and drugs." Pow!
The third: "The Italian national coach Cassani called me a few times but the Italian Federation didn't get in touch, even to call me an idiot." Honk!
While admitting that he "hurt cycling" but that he was "bitter" about the snubs, Paolini has channelled this bitterness by opting to enter a business where bitterness is the name of the game: the world of coffee.
Paolini's new venture? He has invested in a historic coffee bar in central Como and plans to revamp it into a cycling cafe extraordinaire. We wish him good luck. He may have been naïve and foolish, but he was a great rider, an exciting racer, and a loyal domestique. And when he feels tired after too many sleeping pills, perhaps Paolini will simply make himself a strong espresso this time…
The boys are back in town
He may be banned from competitive cycling, but that hasn't stopped Lance Armstrong from getting back into the saddle with former team-mates George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde and Dylan Casey (who?).
The former US Postal blood brothers will ride together in an endurance mountain bike relay event called 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, which is not a UCI-sanctioned event – therefore enabling Armstrong to get the competitive juices flowing again.
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Lance Armstrong
Image credit: AFP
The Arizona event takes place in mid-February and will see the former team-mates ride in the solo, two-man and four-man categories – although Armstrong is quick to stress that they won't be appearing on any podiums fast.
"We are certainly not going to be contending for any victories, but we're looking forward to it, looking forward to having a good time, meeting the other racers," he told Velonews.
Next week we round up the Tour Down Under with a full race review putting it into context with the coming season. See you then...
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