Nairo Quintana was due to join his Movistar teammates at the O Gran Camiño and mark his return to the European peloton after a year spent in exile following his disqualification from the 2022 Tour de France. But his trip to Spain has been postponed after Quintana tested positive for COVID-19 while racing Tour Colombia last week.
Movistar posted a video statement from Quintana on Instagram, and the visibly congested rider said the virus had hit him hard.
"I have not been able to go out to train. I finished the Colombia Tour very sick," Quintana said.
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His illness explained a flat performance on the Alto del Vino and a 21st place in the final classification despite Quintana heading into the race with confidence in his form.
"For the past few days, I had been feeling pretty bad. [I thought] I had caught the flu. When I returned home, I took the COVID test and it came back positive. It hit me hard, I have had many symptoms."
At Tour Colombia, Movistar sports director Pablo Lastras described Quintana's collapse on the Alto del Vino as 'nothing alarming'.
"He had the flu, that's what happened, nothing more. It's nothing to worry about. He felt a bit blocked from being at his full shape but it's nothing alarming, nothing worrying."
He said Quintana had been suffering from a fever but he started the final stage to work for his teammate, Ivan Sósa, who would end with seventh overall.
"In the evening, after the stage finished, he wasn't well and he had some fever, but he's able to start today, and he's going to ride to help Ivan Sósa," Lastras said at the time.
Quintana will remain sidelined in Colombia and continue to rest at home ahead of his next objective, the Volta a Catalunya in March.
"Nairo puts a lot of pressure on himself racing here, but I think the great champions need to put pressure on themselves," Lastras said at Tour Colombia. "They have to know how to manage it and Nairo knows how to do that because he's a winner."
O Gran Camiño will have to go on without the Colombian. In its third year, the race is four stages long from February 22-25 and features a 14.8km opening time trial and three mountainous stages.
Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) will make his season debut at the race.
