Looking forward to Oropa
19 May 2017

Giro de Italia (st. 13) / Vuelta a Castilla y León (st. 1)

Nairo Quintana and Movistar Team-mates get through windy, agile 13th stage unscathed in Giro d'Italia, keep Cóndor in 2nd overall before big mountains. Brother Dayer claims 5th spot at winning break in Castilla y León opener

Despite some crosswinds forced the peloton not to relax for a single moment of the 167km stage thirteen in the Giro d’Italia, between Reggio Emilia and Tortona, the Movistar Team accomplished perfectly their goal of keeping Nairo Quintana safe before Saturday finally brings the most famous climbs in the race with the Oropa mountain-top finish.

De La Parte, Herrada, Anacona, Izagirre, Rojas, Sutherland, Bennati and even Andrey Amador -who remains in 6th overall- kept the Colombian permanently in good place before another bunch sprint saw Fernando Gaviria (QST) victorious – his fourth in this year’s ‘Corsa Rosa’.

The 11.8km, 6.2% avg. gradient ascent towards the Santuario will be the end to very short stage 14 on Saturday, an intense 131km from Fausto Coppi’s hometown Castellania. In Oropa, Quintana and the Blues will try to make up some of their 2’23” gap against pink jersey holder Tom Dumoulin (SUN).

Nairo Quintana: "I know it well, it’s a beautiful ascent, I like it. It’ll be curious to see how we do: it’a short stage and a flat course with such a tough sting at the tail. We should see some decent gaps there, and the approach to the foot of the climb should be ‘interesting’. Let’s hope we can tackle the climb at the front of the bunch and go for what could be a true mountain TT towards the line."

Castilla y León: Break victorious on day one

An identical distance (168km) and similar, open roads held the start of the 32nd Vuelta a Castilla y León in northern spain, between the villages of Aguilar de Campoo and Santibañez de la Peña in the province of Palencia. Alexander Evtushenko (LOK) took a late attack to fruition at the finish after making part of a long, early 15-man break with also included the Movistar Team’s Dayer Quintana (5th). The group finished its adventure with 15 seconds over the peloton.

The Spanish three-day course will seek for its decisive point atop La Camperona (Cat-1), steep end to a 166km stage two that will also make it through the Cat-2 ascents of Pandetrave and Panderrueda before tackling the most demanding ascent in the weekend. The Movistar Team is down to six riders after Adriano Malori – still looking for his best feelings after the horrible accident suffered last year – abandoned the race on Friday.

Results: Giro d'Italia | Vuelta a Castilla y León