Quintana the Condor flies again in the Vuelta a Espana
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) has shown his rivals and his team that he is ready to fight for the Vuelta a España with an early show of strength on a stage where few would have expected the GC contenders to come to the fore.
Quintana put down a blistering late attack out of a group of six riders, claiming his first-ever victory from a breakaway rather than on a summit finish.
The Colombian's victory places Quintana into pole position amongst the GC favourites and confirms that after his uneven Tour de France performance, where he won a mountain stage but had little impact on the overall standings, he is now up for fighting for his third Grand Tour.
Quintana's win will be a much-needed boost to Movistar's collective morale following Giro d'Italia winner Richard Carapaz's last-minute withdrawal from the team.
It also means Movistar now have a Grand Tour set of wins this season in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta. At the same time, the questions over where Quintana will be racing next season - although it is all but confirmed he will leave Movistar - will surely intensify should he continue to contend for the overall in his current team's biggest home race.
"I had a chance to rest a bit after the Tour, and I've not done much since then because I was very tired, but I was really motivated here," Quintana said.
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