Nairo Quintana put in a fantastic performance to win the queen stage and take the maglia rosa in the Giro d'Italia but due to the confusion over the final descent potentially being neutralized, his win has been tainted by controversy. However, the Colombian claims that he never heard anything about a neutralization and underlined that he made a bigger difference on the final climb than he did on the descent.

 

On one of the most hellish days in the recent history of the Giro d'Italia, with rain and snow over almost the entirety of the 139km stage sixteen from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello (Cat-1) - including two other legends of the Corsa Rosa, the Passo Gavia (Cat-1) and the Passo dello Stelvio (Cima Coppi) - Nairo Quintana and the Movistar Team have struck back after their suffering to claim one of the most important stages in this year's race and wear the maglia rosa, following offensive tactics almost from the start of the stage.

 

Amador and Capecchi picked up the pace from halfway up the ascent towards the Gavia, stringing out the group as Quintana's other team-mates - Antón, Izagirre, Castroviejo and Herrada - followed on the first, difficult descent. Always with the Blues taking charge of the pace in the select group at the Stelvio, the downhill split the group into pieces, with just six riders including Quintana, Frenchman Pierre Rolland (EUC) and Canadian Ryder Hesjdal as only GC contenders.

 

The excellent job by Izagirre and Sicard made the group reach the foot of Val Martello with more than a minute and a half's advantage. There, Quintana went into full action by himself - just a couple of turns by Rolland in the beginning, plus other one from Ryder Hesjedal, the last one to keep his wheel, near the end of the ascent - and increased the gap to the other favourites, second by second.

 

Kelderman, Pozzovivo and Aru finished three and a half minutes behind; former leader Urán crossed the line after more than four minutes; and Evans, second overall, lost nearly 5'.

 

Quintana's sensational victory - taking him into the lead, with 1'41" over Urán and 3'21" over Evans, with five days to go - is Movistar Team's 15th success of the season and the 18th by the Colombian since he turned pro. Quintana is the foutth rider under the direction of Eusebio Unzué – Miguel Induráin, David Arroyo and Beñat Intxausti being the other ones – to wear the maglia rosa after nineteen appearances of the team in the Corsa Rosa.

 

Wednesday will bring the theoretically last calm day in the Giro - 208km between Sarnonico and Vittorio Veneto - before three consecutive mountain-top finishes set to decide the race: Rifugio Panarotta (Thursday), the Monte Grappa TT (Friday) and the Monte Zoncolan, on Saturday.

"I knew the route well, though when I came to recon these Giro stages, we couldn't climb much of the Stelvio because it was covered by snow," Quintana said. "We still saw some sections of the downhill as well as the final climb to Val Martello.

 

“The peloton was compact until the top of the Stelvio. Then the attacks started: there was a  rider with Team Colombia, two riders from of AG2R, one from Sky. They started to descend fast. I just stayed on a team-mate’s wheel. Europcar and Hesjedal started going strong and Izagirre and myself followed their wheels.

 

"When we got to the bottom of the descent, we saw the group was split. It wasn't an attack, by any means. We came down at some speed, and at the foot of the descent I realised that there were 6 of us in a group behind the breakaway. In any case, the time I gained on my rivals was mostly made on the final climb. I don’t see any grounds for controversy.

 

"I'm still struggling with that flu and some coughing. I'm sure my rivals will attack in the stages remaining, but I think my body is going better and better, and I have a strong team by my side. You could see it in the Stelvio, where practically the whole team was into the first group. They also had troubles with allergies and crashes, but are getting over that. I'm sure they will help me with all they can to control the race until the very last day.

 

“I’ve been confirming my 2nd place in the Tour de France all season. I won the Tour de San Luis at the start of the year, then finished 2nd in Tirreno-Adriatico, 5th in the Tour of Catalonia, just a few seconds behind the winner. So my 2nd place in the Tour last years wasn’t a fluke.

 

"I’ve worked hard and I continue to work hard for to be a Grand Tour contender. My objective here was to win the Maglia Rosa. Now I’m wearing it, despite the fact that many people had written me off because of my problems. But you don’t lose your class.”

 

"This gives me confidence and confirms I can do great things in the present and future. I dedicate this to my team. I owe them everything."