Annecy-Semnoz, France: Nairo Quintana says cycling's fight against doping has helped him excel at the Tour de France by allowing his high-altitude training to make a difference.
Second to soon-to-be Tour winner Chris Froome, the 23-year-old Colombian emerged on Saturday as perhaps the biggest revelation at this 100th Tour.
Quintana won the penultimate 20th stage in the Alps, and earned honours as the race's best climber and best young rider. The Movistar rider also climbed to second overall ahead of Sunday's largely ceremonial ride to the finish on Paris' Champs-Elysees.
Quintana trains where his family lives at 2,800 meters in the Andes. Training at such high altitudes encourages the body to create more oxygen-carrying red blood cells - and he said that gives him a natural "advantage" over other riders.
Comments
0 comment