The riders of Arkéa-Samsic have been confined for longer than a week for the teams to hex but once the déconfinement announced, the cyclists were able to enjoy the benefits of the altitude.The leader colombian team Arkéa-Samsic, Nairo Quintana, at the Paris-Nice, march 10, 2020. (ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)
After long weeks without competition due to the coronavirus, the Colombian Egan Bernal, the last winner of the Tour de France, and his countrymen, will be back in Europe Sunday, July 19. Their plane will land in Madrid and cyclists will join France on Monday with high goals, but a state of the form is different, because of the confinement. Nairo Quintana, the leader of the team, will arrive a week later, at about one month of the start of the Great Loop (from 29 August to 20 September) of which he aims at the top of the podium.
Better conditions for training
For the new star of the cycling world, Egan Bernal, and for his fellow countrymen, the containment has been more difficult than in France : the Colombian stayed home one more week. But once the déconfinement announced, the cyclists were able to finally enjoy a workout, as explained by Emmanuel Hubert, who leads the three riders colombians within the team of brittany Arkea-Samsic.“They receive training from their school, as they are accustomed to, with all the benefits of the altitude. But today, I’d be tempted to say that, with all the means which may be of benefit to a rider, everyone is able to train in conditions equivalent to the high altitude.”
Nairo Quintana, the leader of colombia team, managed by Emmanuel Hubert, has seen his preparations disrupted by an accident. The winner of the Tour of Italy, several times on the podium of the Tour de France, was knocked down by a car during a training session at his home in the department of Boyaca. “It was, a small ten days, completely stopped, tells the story of Emmanuel Hubert. It was always a pain, but we will say that it is going towards the beautiful. Normally, within eight days, on his return to France, this will certainly be a very bad memory. The motorist should really pay attention to cyclists. It is very dangerous.”
We found out, there are a dozen of days, that one of the biggest champions was quite vulnerable compared to a car driver.Emmanuel Hubert, manager of Nairo Quintanaà franceinfo
Nairo Quintana will roll to the side of Warren Barguil, the former winner of the polka-dot jersey. And with such a formation, the team Arkéa-Samsic seeks the grail in the Tour de France, from the 29th of August. “Nairo is registered really a purpose of general classification and there, nothing to hide and nothing to betray, we aim at the best overall ranking possible and are not forbidden anything, especially not to be on the highest step.”
The rider of colombia should return to the competition with the Tour de l’ain, from 7 to 9 August, while his younger brother, the star Egan Bernal, will already be on the bridge for a week. In the program of his team INEOS, the Road to Occitania in the 1st to 4th August.
Cyclists colombians back in France to prepare for the Tour : Listen to the story of Jeremy Jeanningros–‘—-‘–
