I am pretty sure you know Nairo Quintana, the tiny Colombian, who many people think is the embodiment of a so called natural born climber. And who can blame them? In his career he has already once won the Giro d'Italia - possibly the most difficult road race in all of cycling - despite losing more than two and a half minutes in a flat time trial to fellow countryman Rigoberto Uran. He also finished twice on the podium of the Tour de France - for sure the most popular and therefore highest rated race in all of cycling - and you could even make the case that he was outclimbing everyone, including two time race winner Chris Froome, in the final week of competition. Of all the Colombians in this extraordinary generation of talented bike riders, Quintana is the guy that really stands out.
Today is the 4th of February, Quintanas birthday. The funny thing is that it is also the birthday of Miguel Angel Lopez, a young Colombian rider who is in some ways very similar to Quintana, but in other ways very different. Lopez is born in 1994 whereas Quintana is born in 1990 which means that Quintana is four years older than Lopez. Quintana was already a national hero in 2013. At that time, I don't think anybody in Europe had stumbled across the name of Lopez and he wasn't well-known in Colombia either. Yet they raced against each other just a few days ago at the Tour de San Luis and Lopez beat Quintana who was riding in the support of his brother Dayer in a mountain top finish.
Lopez' first big season was in 2014 when he really emerged as a coming star in cycling. First in Colombia where he won five races in the first half of the season including the Vuelta de la Juventud Colombia, the Vuelta a Colombia for u23s, with a big solo win on the queen stage to the Alto de Crucero. He then came to Europe and went on to win the Tour de l'Avenir. Despite only winning by a 30 second margin and being attacked by Louis Vervaeke (now Lotto - Soudal) on the final day he always seemed completely in control, supported by a strong Colombian squad including sprint sensation Fernando Gaviria and Rodrigo Contreras (now Etixx - Quick Step). Lopez' season wasn't done yet as he went back to Colombia and won two stages of the Clasica Aguazul on his way to the overall victory.
Lopez signed with Astana for 2015. As he was still mostly unknown in Europe, this move to one of the biggest teams in pro cycling was viewed as a risky decision by Lopez. It was questioned whether Lopez, who didn't speak any English, would be able to cope with the difficulties of being in a team with only a handful of guys from Spain and no fellow South Americans.
His start to his pro career wasn't pretty at all. Lopez struggled with injuries throughout the first half of the season and wasn't able to build any steam. He finally showcased his talents on the second mountain top finish of the Tour of Turkey in which he attacked but was later passed by Pello Bilbao. He then did an impressive Tour de Suisse. Starting the race in a support role for Jakub Fuglsang, he rode away from his captain on the ascent to the Rettenbachgletscher on his way to a seventh place overall. Later in the season he took his first pro victory beating Daniel Moreno in an uphill sprint in the Vuelta a Burgos also taking the leaders jersey. He wasn't able to defend it on the last stage but this was still a very impressive showing.
Lopez and Quintana both won the Tour de l'Avenir at the age of 20 years. Both were relatively unknown at that time although Quintana had finished in the top 10 of a Spanish pro race the year before. Both went pro the following year but with Lopez going to a major team like Astana and Quintana going pro with the relatively small Colombia team, it really can't be compared. It will be interesting to see how Lopez goes this season. At 22 years of age, Quintana won the Vuelta a Murcia, the Route du Sud and one stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné. He also looked very strong in his first grand tour, the Vuelta, which will also be Lopez' first grand tour this season. I would say that Lopez can match those results if not outperform Quintana for the second year in a row.
That does not mean I think Lopez' is as or even more talented than Quintana. That would be a rather ridiculous assessment as Lopez' hasn't really done anything compared to the palmarès of Quintana. Furthermore I think you can't really compare them in terms of their style of riding. Quintana is, as mentioned above, a natural born climber who likes to go from far. Lopez is more of a mountain sprinter who is almost irresistible on the last meters of a mountain top finish. Just watch his stage win in the Vuelta a Burgos from last season in which he easily outkicked Dani Moreno, who is one of the best in that kind of a finish himself.
I am just wondering: When people in Colombia will think back to this time and age in say 50 years, will they think: "Today is the 4th of February, the day Nairo Quintana was born", or will they remember it as the day two of the best climbers in Colombian cycling history saw the light of day for the first time.
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