Quintana not dwelling on Movistar past

Nairo Quintana isn’t one to dwell on the past. Comfortable with his new team Arkéa-Samsic, the Colombian star is holing up at home to wait out the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to fans during a chat on social media, Quintana said he has not seen the Netflix documentary about the 2019 Movistar season that revealed deep fractures within the team.

“I haven’t had the honor of seeing it,” Quintana said. “I’ve heard a lot of comments, but the only thing I can say is what I experienced during the filming because I haven’t seen it. There were some things I liked, and others I didn’t. I don’t like to dwell on bad memories, I prefer to remember the good things.”

The documentary — called “El Día Menos Pensado” which roughly translates to “The Day Least Expected” — traces the 2019 season, with a major focus on the sometimes dysfunction within the Movistar bus during the Tour de France, where Quintana and Mikel Landa fight for leadership of the team. Quintana said it took a while to warm to the idea that a film crew had such an intimate look at the team.

“It was pretty risky because there’s no hiding what’s happening inside the team,” Quintana said. “Things like this happen in a lot of teams. At first I didn’t feel comfortable but little by little I loosened up. I closed the chapter at Movistar after eight very good years. I’ll always remember the good things, and I’m thankful to them.”

That tension was one of the reasons Quintana left the Spanish team after eight years to join second-division Arkéa-Samsic on a two-year deal. Quintana was off to his best start in years, with three stage wins and two overall titles before racing stopped during Paris-Nice, in March.

Quintana, 30, returned to Colombia, where he’s been respecting social distancing and waiting to see when racing in 2020 resumes.

“I’m not a big fan of the indoor trainer,” Quintana said. “I’ve never done more than one hour before on the trainer, so to be on it now in the morning and afternoon isn’t easy. I’m more of a rider who likes to train outside, so it’s been hard at first.”

Like everyone else, Quintana has no idea if and when competition might resume. There’s talk of delaying all the grand tours and have racing last until late November. Quintana wants to be ready.

“All this is new for everyone, so no one knows what’s going to work,” he said. “We’ll get back on the road to train before the Tour, which now everyone says will happen in August. We hope that all the races that might be held will be considering the riders.”