"The longest stage of the 2013 Tour was conceived to test the most robust of hearts. Even before the terminal spike of Mont Ventoux, the profile charted a worrying succession of peaks and troughs. The peloton showed its early defiance by devouring the first hundred kilometres in barely two. hours. It is late afternoon now and the stage is five hours old."
Matt Rendell tracks Nairo Quintana’s rise from Alejandro Valverde’s understudy to leader in his own right.
The 2013 Tour de France saw the Colombian challenge the old order at Movistar – and challenge Chris Froome for the top step of the podium.
In this extract from his book Colombia es Pasion, Matt details the key moments from that year’s race as Quintana went on to take a stage victory in Semnoz, the Young Rider classification and finish runner-up in Paris.
The Rouleur Longreads Podcast brings you selected long form articles from the magazine, especially recorded for Rouleur. Don’t stop what you’re doing – do it while listening to the world’s best cycling writing.
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