Nairo Quintana has abandoned the Tour de Suisse after sustaining a fracture to a bone in his right hand in a crash in the finale of stage 2 to Regensdorf.
Although Quintana was able to remount and complete the stage, 2:23 down on winner Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), he was a non-starter on stage 3 following assessment of his injuries on Monday night.
“After his crash yesterday during the second stage of the Tour de Suisse, Nairo underwent radiological tests last night due to the pain he was suffering,” read a statement from Movistar.
“Quintana suffered a non-displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal of the right hand. The Colombian’s hand will be treated with immobilisation and he will not start today's stage 3.”
A number of riders crashed in the finale of stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse, including Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), who suffered a broken hip and collarbone.
It is not yet clear how long Quintana will spend on the sidelines, but the Colombian was not due to ride this year’s Tour de France having recently completed the Giro d’Italia in 19th place overall. Since the start of the season, Movistar have indicated that Quintana will also ride the Vuelta a España in the service of Enric Mas.
Quintana re-joined Movistar this season after spending the 2023 season on the sidelines having failed to find a team in the wake of his positive tests for Tramadol on the 2022 Tour de France.
The 34-year-old has endured a difficult comeback season after contracting COVID-19 during the Tour Colombia in February. That illness delayed the start of his European season and he suffered a further setback when he ruptured an arm ligament in a crash at the Volta a Catalunya.
Those issues saw Quintana downgrade his Giro ambitions from the general classification to chasing stage wins. He went closest at Livigno on stage 15, placing second after being caught and passed by maglia rosa Tadej Pogačar on the final approach to the finish.
Quintana lined out at the Tour de Suisse in support of Mas, who is using the Swiss race to build towards the Tour. It remains to be seen, however, if Mas will be flanked in July by Oier Lazkano, who showed hitherto unheralded climbing abilities at the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Spanish champion is out of contract at the end of this season and has been linked with a move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
