Colombia has reacted with pride to Nairo Quintana’s sixth place finish in the 2022 Tour de France. Although the Colombian Arkéa-Samsic rider lost a place after the stage 20 time trial, his performance over the three weeks was outstanding, about to rub shoulders with the main figures of pedal sport.
As a result of this effort, Nairo will end up in Paris with a smile for a job accomplished, in addition to a good amount of money in prizes that he will surely invest in his personal projects, such as the Gran Fondo, which this year will play two editions in Mexico and Colombia, respectively.
It should be remembered that the list of prizes awarded by the organization is publicly known before the race.so the cyclists already know how much they will get if they finish in a certain position.
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), for example. will take a total of 500,000 euros to finish with the jersey yellow in his possession, that is, 2,250 million Colombian pesos.
Tadej Pogacar, second in the general classification, receives 200,000 euros (900 million pesos) and the third member of the podium, the Welshman Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), takes 100,000 (400 million pesos).
Thus, successively, the prizes will be distributed among the first 20 cyclists of the general classification, this without counting the prizes that they reaped throughout the 21 stages for winning stages, arriving at the head of the race or leading any of the four classifications that make up in Tour de France.
In that order of ideas, Nairo won a total of 23,000 euros for finishing in sixth place, behind Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Russian Aleksander Vlasov (Bora Hansgrohe). In Colombian pesos, the prize pool for El Cóndor exceeds 100 million, a not insignificant figure to reward a little the physical effort he made in order to stay in the top 10.
promised to come back
Despite wanting to be closer to Vingegaard, Pogacar and Thomas, Nairo is “satisfied” with his performance in the Big loop. “It hit us hard, we worked hard. Our teammates do not compare with those of Ineos, those of Jumbo, people who have a lot of experience. We, almost half of the team, were doing their first Tour and others their second”, he explained.
The boyacense does not give up and once confirmed that next year he hopes to be back to try again. “We learned and we are making a good group. Again, the body works well, for the coming year to arrive in good condition. This year we do the Vuelta a España and we will surely do it well”, he announced.
The desire of the boyacense is to get back into one of the first three boxes in the general classification in 2023. “Next year we will try for the podium, be close, fight in stages. We have always been there, we have found a balance and a good point of work”, he said.
Beyond what he did on the bike, Nairo highlights the work of masseurs, mechanics and all the staff that he contributed in this return to top 10 of a Tour de France. That is the main reason why renewing his contract with Arkéa seems closer than ever, taking advantage of the fact that it is practically a fact that they will be in the World Tour category next year, contesting the main UCI races without the need for an invitation.
That is an aspect that leads him to remain motivated by the sport and seek triumphs, no matter how difficult they may seem. “As the veterans say, I feel 20”, the Colombian joked before confirming that his wish is to continue at Arkéa, because he has shaken his hand in difficult times as a result of the pandemic.
“This year, in all the races I have done I have been in the top ten. We have been doing good things, reinforcements are coming for the team and I think I will continue here”, he concluded.