TakeVueltayesterday
Movistar Team left Nairo Quintana off its eight-rider squad for the Vuelta a España 2026, despite his own team knowing he'd already announced retirement. Colombia's federation gave him the send-off his team didn't: Quintana leads the national squad at the Road World Championships 2026 in Montreal, his actual last race.
The Montreal course doesn't make it easy — sixteen ascents of Camillien Houde, 4,304 metres of climbing over 214.4 km, the hardest Worlds route in years. It's Quintana's seventh Worlds appearance; his best finish there was 15th, at Innsbruck in 2018. He'll ride alongside Egan Bernal rather than for Movistar Team, which is its own quiet statement about who wanted this farewell to happen.
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