00:00Don't ask me, after we say this to God, to forget about Nairo Quintana.
00:04Because watching it is like going back to childhood, those years when we truly believed we had
00:10to the best cyclist in the world, a shy, taciturn, and short man from Boyacá,
00:15who dared to challenge giants, some of the best of all time,
00:20who seemed unbeatable, but not for Nairo Quintana.
00:24Don't ask me not to get emotional when I see him walking among the lifted bicycles
00:29of his teammates in his last race, because there I also saw the boy from the peasant family
00:35who crossed the mountains of Boyacá to get to school,
00:39to the boy who turned those climbs into his destiny and who in 2010,
00:44When he won the Tour de l'Avenir, he showed us the magnitude of his ambitions.
00:49Don't ask me to forget his great achievements, that he was the first Colombian to win a Giro d'Italia in
00:552014,
00:55the day that changed history, when he won the Vuelta a España in 2016,
01:00after an unforgettable ambush against Froome, who was twice runner-up in the Tour de France
01:06and once third, he achieved 53 professional victories, 8 stages in the grand tours
01:12and titles in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Romandy and two Adriatic Tyrrhenian islands.
01:17Don't ask me not to think he's the best Colombian athlete of all time.
01:22In a country of queens and smiles that conquered the world,
01:26Nairo was happy on a bicycle.
01:29In a land of boxing and batting legends,
01:32of brave souls who challenged sporting icons,
01:35Nairo defeated those who made history.
01:38Even in a country of prodigies like Egan Bernal,
01:41who won the Tour that Nairo was never able to win,
01:43Quintana never stopped being among the greatest.
01:47Greatness is not measured solely in titles,
01:50It is also measured in narratives, rivalries, and stories.
01:54in the inspirations that are born from dreams that generate new dreams.
01:59They'll never make me think that Nairo Quintana isn't among the greatest.
02:03Because precisely their story wasn't perfect,
02:06like that of all our heroes,
02:08whose stories are also told from their cracks.
02:11When the Boyacá native was disqualified for a medical infraction
02:15which did not constitute an anti-doping violation
02:18nor did it prevent him from competing again,
02:20Nairo defended his name and had to go without a team.
02:23When many had written him off, he rose again.
02:27Because truly great stories also know defeats.
02:32Don't tell me not to be sad about their goodbye,
02:35Because with Nairo Quintana, a part of our childhood also comes to an end.
02:40that time when we would get up early to watch him climb impossible mountains
02:44And we dreamed of seeing him dressed in yellow in Paris.
02:48All we can do is thank Nairo for every victory.
02:52for every battle and for every dream,
02:54for teaching us that a child from the mountains of Boyacá
02:57could conquer the world
02:59and above all for making us believe that we could do it too.
03:11Thank you!
03:22Thank you!
03:23Thank you!
03:24Thank you!
03:24Thank you!
03:24Thank you!
03:24Thank you!
