Tour de France: Movistar waiting for Pau time trial in upbeat mood for Quintana
Spanish team Movistar and their leader Nairo Quintana are facing what could be a crucial stage in the Colombian's Tour de France prospects with a mixture of anticipation and optimism, management told Cyclingnews.
After a first day in the Pyrenees on Thursday, when an undeclared truce between the top favourites saw little if any overall action, Friday's time trial will be a vital moment for all the GC contenders.
For Quintana, who has ridden a near-faultless first half of the Tour so far, the chances of impact on the overall may hinge largely on the mountains. But not losing time in the 27.2km time trial in Pau forms an even bigger part of the picture.
The Colombian has much at stake, too, in a year where returning to his top Tour form of the early part of his career does not feel out of the question at all.
"It’s going to be all about going flat out, and there are no other options," Movistar director Txente García Acosta told Cyclingnews at the finish of stage 12 in Bagneres-De-Bigorre.
"All three of our main men have checked out the course in person, and not just once but several times” García Acosta told Cyclingnews, referring to Quintana, Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde. "So we know what's coming and they’re feeling very confident."
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