Colombian cycling legend Nairo Quintana has officially retired from professional racing, bringing to an end a 15-season career that made him one of the most successful cyclists ever produced by Latin America.
Quintana, 36, competed in his final professional race on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Giro dell’Emilia in Italy, the same race where he claimed one of his first major victories with Movistar Team in 2012. His retirement closes one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of Colombian sport.
For many fans and observers, Quintana can legitimately be described as the greatest cyclist in Latin American history, although such a distinction is inevitably subjective. His record, however, gives the argument considerable weight: victories in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, three Tour de France podium finishes and more than 50 professional victories.
Nairo Quintana retired from cycling: From Boyaca to the world’s biggest races
Born in Tunja, Boyaca, and raised in the rural municipality of Combita, Quintana grew up at high altitude in the Colombian Andes. As a teenager, the bicycle was not simply a sporting instrument but a means of transportation to school.
His ability to climb mountains quickly separated him from his peers. After joining Movistar Team, he announced himself on the international stage in 2012 before becoming one of the world’s leading stage-race contenders the following year.
His breakthrough came at the 2013 Tour de France. Quintana finished second overall behind Chris Froome, won the mountains classification and the best young rider’s competition, and established himself as a serious contender for cycling’s biggest prize.
He finished second again at the Tour in 2015 and third in 2016. Those three podiums remain among the greatest achievements by a Latin American rider in the race’s history.
Giro and Vuelta victories
Quintana reached the summit of Grand Tour cycling in 2014 when he won the Giro d’Italia, becoming the first Colombian and first Latin American rider to claim the prestigious Italian race.
Two years later, he added the Vuelta a España to his palmares, defeating a field that included Froome. The victory made Quintana one of a select group of riders to win two different Grand Tours during his career.
He also won two editions of Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour de Romandie, Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Volta a Catalunya and several other major stage races.
Movistar Team says Quintana finished his career with 53 victories, 42 of them with the Spanish team. His final professional victory came in the 2026 Vuelta a Asturias.
A symbol of Colombian cycling
Quintana’s importance goes beyond his results. He became the face of a golden generation of Colombian cyclists that included Rigoberto Uran, Esteban Chaves and, later, Egan Bernal.
His success helped reconnect Colombia with the country’s historic cycling tradition while making the distinctive image of the Colombian mountain climber familiar to audiences around the world.
The Giro d’Italia described Quintana as a rider who came to represent an entire continent, while the Colombian news agency EFE said his career restored grandeur to Colombian cycling.
His career was not without controversy. In 2022, he was disqualified from the Tour de France after the UCI found tramadol in two blood samples. The UCI emphasized that the violation concerned its medical regulations and did not constitute an anti-doping rule violation. The Court of Arbitration for Sport later confirmed the disqualification.
Still, that episode does little to erase the scale of Quintana’s achievements.
After 15 seasons at the highest level, the Colombian climber has finally put away his racing number. For a generation of Colombians and cycling fans across Latin America, the departure of Nairo Quintana marks much more than the retirement of a champion: It marks the end of an era.