Nairo Quintana: Cycling, Olympics & Net Worth
Nairo Quintana is a professional cyclist from Colombia. Currently, he rides for UCI Pro Team Arkea-Samsic.
The racer also participated in the Olympics Tokyo 2020, representing his country Colombia in the cycling race.
He is nicknamed “Nairoman ” and “El Condor de Los Andes.”
Nairo Quintana is a specialist climber in cycling. Also, the cyclist is known for his ability to launch sustained and repeated attacks on ascents of the steep gradients.
Additionally, his high power output, great stamina to react and endure other’s attackers are commendable as well.
Moreover, it’s easy to lose your temper and make regretful actions and decisions. However, the conscious decisions taken with patience are very fruitful despite being hard to achieve.
Similarly, the calm and composed nature of this Colombian cyclist Nairo has always earned him great respect, even in the eyes of his opponents.
He is also a decent-time trialist, and it has made him a consistent contender for the general classification at stage races.
Throughout his career, the Colombian cyclist has been associated with multiple clubs and teams.
Some of those are Boyaca es Para Vivirla, Cafe de Colombia-Colombia es Pasion, Movistar team, etc.
As of now, he is associated with the professional team Arkea-Samsic since 2020.
Quick Facts:
Here are some quick facts about the Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana:
| Full name | Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas |
| Also known as | The Lion, El Condor de los Andes, Nair Force KINGtana, Nairoman |
| Place of birth | Combita, Boyaca, Colombia |
| Date of birth | February 4, 1990 |
| Current residence | Pamplona, Navarre |
| Nationality | Colombian |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Religion | Christian |
| Age | 34 Years Old |
| Height | 5 feet 5.5 inches |
| Weight | 128 lbs (58 kgs) |
| Eye color | Black |
| Hair color | Black |
| Skin color | Medium-dark |
| Gender | Male |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Horoscope | Aquarius |
| Birthstone | Sugilite |
| Lucky number | 2 |
| Lucky color | Violet |
| Father’s name | Luis Quintana |
| Mother’s name | Eloisa Rojas |
| Siblings | Dayer Uberny Quintana Rojas, Esperenza Quintana, Willington Quintana, Nelly Quintana |
| Marital status | Married |
| Spouse/Partner | Yeimi Paola Hernandez |
| Children | Mariana Quintana, Tomas Quintana |
| Education | Not revealed |
| Profession | Professional racing cyclist |
| Debut | 2009 (with the team Boyaca es para Vivirla) |
| Years active | 2009-present |
| Professional teams | Boyaca es Para Vivilra (2009) Cafe de Colombia-Colombia es passion (2010-2011) Movistar Team (2012-2019) Arkea-Samsic (2020-present) |
| Current team | Arkea- Samsic |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climber |
| Major wins | Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana, Multiple stage races, Giro dell’Emilia |
| Hobbies | Traveling, family games |
| Net Worth | $4 million |
| Website | www.nairo.com.co |
| Social media | Instagram, Twitter, Facebook |
| Merch | Llegar a la cima: La carrera de Nairo Quintana |
| Last Update | April, 2024 |
Nairo Quintana: Early life
Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas was born on February 4, 1990, in Combita. It is a town near the capital of Boyaca, Tunja, in Colombia.
Currently, the player resides in Pamplona in Navarre. Actually, he splits his stay between his native country Combita and Pamplona.
He was, in fact, born to a simple farming family. The player comes from humble family background.
However, his parents still saved up to buy the player a second-hand mountain bike. In fact, his father provided him the bike to make the 16km journey to his school.
Nairo had to travel through the eastern ranges of the Andes to attend his school.
Likewise, he also used the cycle to travel from village to village to sell fruits and vegetables.
This way, cycling, a skill for his family’s survival, led him to make a professional career out of it.
The player was hit by a taxi at the age of 15 while riding his bike. This accident caused him a lot of injuries. He also was in a coma for five days due to this.
Nairo also used to work as a taxi driver using his father’s car just at the age of 16.
Despite the accident, the player’s father bought him a racing bike by spending 300,000 Colombian pesos.
His father recognized his potential and wanted to see if Nairo could make a career in the sport.
If your parents believed in you and your dreams, then anything is possible. Nairo, the racing cyclist, definitely proved this with his successful career.
Nairo Quintana: Height, Weight, and Ethnicity
The cyclist has a fit, athletic body. He stands five feet 5.5 inches tall. Likewise, he weighs 128 lbs.
Similarly, the player has deep black eyes and black hair.
Nairo holds a Colombian nationality, and he belongs to white ethnicity. Also, he is a Christian by religion.
Nairo Quintana: Educational Background
Nairo attended a public school in Combita during his childhood. In fact, he began cycling just to make up for the journey to his school.
However, there is no information about the player’s educational endeavors.
He hasn’t yet revealed if he has graduated with any certain educational degree.
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Nairo Quintana: Family
Nairo always had a loving, hard-working, and supportive family. His father’s name is Luis Quintana, and he used to work as a taxi driver.
Likewise, his mother’s name is Eloisa Rojas. She is a housewife who also worked on the farm.
The player has four siblings; two brothers and two sisters. His sisters are named Nelly Quintana and Esperenza Quintana (also known as Lady).
Similarly, his brothers are named Willington Quinatan and Dayer Quintana.
Who is Dayer Quintana?
Dayer Uberney Quintana Rojas is a Colombian cyclist who rides for UCI Pro Team Arkea-Samsic, similar to his brother.
Moreover, his professional victory was stage 3 of the 2014 Tour of Austria.
The player was also named in the start list for the 2020 Tour de France.
In fact, he was an amateur rider for the teams like Boyaca es para Vivirla, Alcaldia de Tunja, and Lizarte.
However, as a professional, he joined Movistar and Neri Sotolli-Sele Italia-KTm before joining his recent team.
Apparently, Dayer is also a climber type of rider similar to his brother Nairo.
The Conjugal Life
Besides the family Nairo was born into, he also has a loving family with his beautiful wife.
He is married to Yeimi Poala Hernandez. She used to be a reporter for local television in Colombia.
The couple has been together for a very long time.
The couple also has two beautiful children. Niro and Paola’s first child is their daughter named Mariana Quintana.
Later, they gave birth to a beautiful young boy. His name is Tomas Quintana.
Nairo Quintana: Career
The cyclist began his professional career by winning the Tour de l’Avenit. He was part of the team “cafe de Colombia-Colombia as Pasion’ at this time.
His victory was proved to be one of the great prospects for the future of Colombian cycling.
Later, the player moved to Europe and joined the Spanish team “Movistar Team’ in 2012.
Simultaneously, the player won overall classification in the Vuelta a Murcia.
Following this, Nairo made his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a Espana in the same year.
In fact, he was one of Alejandro Valverde’s key climbing domestics. He finished 36th overall.
Also, the athlete won the Giro dell Emilia in the October of the same year.
Similarly, in the 2013 season, the player participated in Tour de France and became the first cyclist to cross the highest pass.
The athlete also took the lead in the young rider classification. Additionally, he also received the award for that stage’s most aggressive rider.
However, in the 2014 season, Nairo decided to skip the Tour de France.
Actually, he decided to aim for the Giro d’Italia as the race included high mountains.
The racer has competed in several races in 2021, such as Tour de France, Olympics, etc.
Health Issues and Drugs
In the 2014 giro d Italia, the cyclist entered the race in a weakened condition. Actually, this was due to his earlier illness.
However, the player and his team began with 8th place in the opening event.
The player also won the white jersey for the best player in this race. He took a couple of months off after this race.
But soon, he caught up for the Vuelta a Espana. Then, however, he crashed badly after misjudging a bend and lost 4 minutes and the red jersey.
Again, the player crashed at the beginning of the next stage. He lost a collar bone and also was withdrawn from the race due to the injury.
Later, during the 2015 season of the Vuela a Espana, the player didn’t look on his best form from the beginning.
On stage 11, he lost three minutes to race leader Fabio Aru and fell to 9th place overall.
Nairo admitted that he was suffering from a sickness and was willing to abandon this race.
However, he came back to form on stage 14 and finished in sixth place.
During the 2020 Tour de France, Nairo and his brother were searched and questioned by French police in their hotel room.
Later on September 21, 2020, the authorities confirmed that they had opened a doping investigation against a small part of the Arkea-Samsic team.
And this followed the discovery of many health products also including drugs. In addition, a specific method that could be qualified as doping during the raid was discovered.
Also, It was found that Nairo Quintana and two of his teammates were guilty and were put into custody.
Major Career Achievements
The best career winnings of the racer are the 2014 Giro d’Italia and 2016 Vuelta a Espana.
Also, the 2nd place in the Tour de France of 2013 and 2015 are his major professional wins.
In addition to the two Grand Tour victories, the player also has been placed on the podium six times.
Besides, the player came in the top ten for eleven times.
There are multiple wins in the other major races too. These wins led him to high UCI World Tour ranking placements at the end of each season.
He is also considered the best road cyclist in Colombia’s history.
Nairo Quintana: Social Media
The successful cyclist is also active on social media platforms.
His Instagram handle is @nairoquincofficial. It is, in fact, a verified Instagram account with 1.3M followers and 430 posts.
The player usually posts about his racing activities. His latest post was about Olympic Games held in Tokyo.
His Instagram bio says, ‘Co Ciclista orgullosamente colombiano @arkeasamsic
“Fuerza, mente y corazón”.
The bio also has a link to his official website. It also has a link to the official Instagram page of his apparel.
Likewise, the player also has his official Twitter handle. It is also a verified account with 1.2M followers and 864 Tweets.
The twitter bio says, “Ciclista orgullosamente colombiano – Con la fuerza de mi mente y mis piernas, busco conquistar la meta. Contacto: [email protected]”.
The athlete joined Twitter in July 2013. Also, it has a link to his professional Facebook account.
Nairo Quintana: Net Worth
Nairo Quintana has an estimated net worth of $4million.
The numerous racing victories and the price money collected throughout have contributed to the player’s net worth.
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Interesting facts about Nairo Quintana
- The Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana secured the 69th position in the Men’s road race final of The Olympics Tokyo 2020. The cycling race was held on July 24.
- Nairo has also received an ODB, the highest peacetime decoration of Colombia.
- In the Tour de France 2015, the player was caught by a split in the peloton caused by high winds. Due to this, he lost to Chris Froome by a minute.
- The player didn’t take part in the Olympics of 2016 held in Rio. He denied it because the player wanted to recover from his illness and be ready for the Vuelta a Espana.
FAQs
Is Nairo Quintana in the Tour de France 2021?
Yes, Nairo Quintana will lead Arkea-Samasic at the upcoming Tour de France.
Why are Colombians so good at cycling?
The geographical challenges of Colombia make the people learn to ride the bicycle. It is the reason why the country has produced so many great cyclists over the year.
Is Nairo Quintana in the 2021 Giro d italia?
No, Nairo Quintana is not invited to the cycling race. RCS sports revealed that only three teams received wildcards for the 104th edition of Giro d’ Italia. And the teams are Bardiana CSF Faizana, EOLO-Kometa, and Vini Zabu.
What does Quintana mean?
Quintana is actually a Spanish word. In Spanish, it means “country house,” and it is often a girl’s name in Spanish origin family.
