Nairo Quintana virtually sealed the overall victory in the Giro d'Italia when - with apparent ease - he responded to all attacks from his rivals on the Monte Zoncolan. Despite the initial disappointment, the Colombian now admits that it was probably the right decision to send him to the Italian grand tour in which he claims to have demontrated who he is as a rider.

 

The final mountainous hurdle for Nairo Quintana and the Movistar Team in the 2014 Giro d'Italia is now behind with the best possible result. The slopes of the Monte Zoncolan, the steepest climb on pro cycling in mainland Europe, saw the leader of the telephone squad reaching its top again ahead of all the main favourites for the overall success in the last day of one-on-one fight. The Colombian and all his team-mates made difficult things look easy in the 167km stage twenty, starting in Maniago.

 

Responsibility in the bunch was put, as usual in the third week of this year's Giro, on the shoulders of the riders directed by Eusebio Unzué. All of them fulfilled their tasks to perfection. Ventoso, Malori and Amador kept the pace on the Passo del Pura (Cat-1) and the Sella di Razzo (Cat-2), the two climbs leading to the 10km 'wall' in the end.

 

With nineteen riders fighting for the stage in the breakaway, more than eight minutes ahead, the Movistar riders tackled the start of the ascent in amazing style, Amador and Jonathan Castroviejo almost splitting the group. On the steepest slopes, it was the turn for Igor Antón to put a suffocating rhythm into the group, which neutralized the only real attempt of the GC contenders - made by Kiserlovski (TFR) - and shrunk the field to just seven riders.

 

As Poels (OPQ) took command in the group in favour of Urán, Quintana sticked to his fellow countryman's wheel and followed the pace with no troubles till the last kilometer, where he added an extra gear which made him reach the finish solvently.

 

Eight urban laps of a circuit in Trieste - completing a total 172km from Gemona del Friuli - will take the curtain down to a Corsa Rosa which Quintana leads with 3'07" over Urán, 4'04" over Aru (AST) and almost six minutes over Rolland (EUC). The Movistar Team's dream of winning a Grand Tour again after five years - Valverde, '09 Vuelta - is just around the corner.

 

"Some tears did come to my eyes when I got onto the podium," Quintana said. "I'm really happy. I'm about to clinch a really important goal in my life, about to win in such a beautiful place, with all the fans, as well as Italians, Colombians... as from other parts of the world - I'm just super proud.

 

"We've got this 99% sealed now. There's just the last stage left tomorrow, which we know is relatively flat, and as we saw today, the team is also really strong. We hope to round off this excellent Giro confirming the results and raising our arms on the last finish line.

 

"Zoncolan was pretty demanding, 'impegnativo', as they say here. Racing pace was high all these days and the riders came really tired into the last climb.

 

“Today, it was a spectacular stage that added to my lead, in the Maglia Rosa which I won in a very difficult day when many didn’t want to see the beauty of the stage. This motivated me for the mountain time trial, when I demonstrated who I really am as a cyclist.

 

“Even today, I was a bit ill. during the stage, the mucus made be feel ill, the effort too. I suffer as much as the rest because I’m a human being like everyone else. My legs hurt, but I managed it well, and looked tranquil, but inside I felt the pain.

 

“It was a pretty difficult decision [to send me to the Giro] on Eusebio’s part, but it was perhaps the best decision we could have taken. I’ve learned a great deal here: how to ride in different conditions, when I was ill, when I was wearing the Maglia Rosa… how to lead a team in  a 3 week tour. I’m very grateful to the Giro d’Italia.”

 

"We're happy with this success, all of us into the team. In the end of the first week and the beginning of the second, I was very much ill, frightened that I couldn't fulfil the expectations, I went through some 'transition' stages and struggled a bit, but I did my best to recover and my body is now OK. We've got the maglia rosa on our shoulders and a pretty large gap over second place - I'm calm.