Nairo Quintana to race Colombian national championships as privateer

Team ArkeaSamsic teams Colombian rider Nairo Quintana cycles in the ascent of the Col du Granon Serre Chevalier during the final kilometers the 11th stage of the 109th edition of the Tour de France cycling race 1517 km between Albertville and Col du Granon Serre Chevalier in the French Alps on July 13 2022 Photo by Marco BERTORELLO AFP Photo by MARCO BERTORELLOAFP via Getty Images
Nairo Quintana in action at the 2022 Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Nairo Quintana has confirmed he will ride the Colombian national championships on Sunday, competing as a privateer with the Boyacá region of Colombian thanks to a loophole in the Colombian Federation rules.   

Quintana is still without a team for 2023 after testing positive for banned painkiller Tramadol at last year's Tour de France but is refusing to end his career. 

Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.