Two-time Grand Tour competition winner Nairo Quintana was hit by a car while training in Colombia and, although he suffered no serious injuries, he will have to rest for two weeks from a series of bruises.
“Nairo was hit by a car today during his training,” the Arkéa Samsic team, where Quintana is a member, said in a statement released on social media.
The accident was registered on the highway that connects the central municipalities of Tunja and Motavita, heading to Alto del Sote, the elevation that became famous among Colombians precisely for being where Quintana has trained since the dawn of his career.
On his official website, Arkéa Samsic offered a description of the events.
“The accompanying vehicle for the two Arkéa Samsic cyclists was traveling 20 meters from Dayer Quintana (the younger brother) and Nairo Quintana. A vehicle appeared on the road, in the same direction that the group was traveling and passed the accompanying car, after this maneuver it closed on the lane in which the cyclists were rolling, hitting Nairo, who fell to the ground, “the team explained. French, who classified the event as “an accident without major consequences”.
The Colombian star joined Arkéa Samsic in September, after a period of eight seasons with the Spanish Movistar.
At night, Quintana issued a statement in which he shared the medical report about his injuries, obtained after X-ray tests, an ultrasound and an MRI.
“Fortunately, we report that he does not have any fracture, but he does have multiple injuries to the right knee, a situation that leads to two weeks of total rest suggested by the doctor who evaluated him,” the party indicates.
Before the accident, Quintana had planned to resume his activities in a small race in August in France, after the suspension of European tours due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Nairo trusts that this rest does not affect his preparation to his goal of the year which is the Tour de France and to continue to have a good season with his Arkea-Samsic team,” says the medical report.
The rescheduled Tour will take place from August 29 to September 20.
Shortly after the accident, the Quintana team posted a video on their Twitter account, in which the cyclist himself offered an explanation of his condition.
Quintana, 30, appeared calmly in the video, noting that he received “a blow to the right knee and another blow to the left thigh, it was where I hit the rearview mirror of the vehicle that hit me.”
Major Nelson Andrés Corredor, head of the police traffic section of the Boyacá department, where the accident occurred, confirmed that the vehicle’s right rear-view mirror touched Quintana and destabilized it, causing it to fall.
The driver who caused the accident underwent a breathalyzer test that was negative, according to police. The vehicle was immobilized.
The mayor of Motavita, Mery Mozo, went to the place where Nairo was after the accident, and reported that the cyclist was transferred to his home in the town of Cómbita, also in Boyacá.
Quintana conquered the Giro d’Italia in 2014 and the 2016 Vuelta a España. He was twice runner-up in the Tour de France with Movistar.
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