Former Giro d'Italia winner Nairo Quintana responded to Tadej Pogachar and UAE Team Emirates' stance of trying to win as many Giro d'Italia stages as possible by saying, "Although he and Movistar employed different strategies when they were dominant in the Grand Tour, Other tactics are just as valid," he said in a spirited defense.

Quintana, currently 31st overall, indicated before the race that he would pursue a stage win rather than his initial goal of a top GC finish. He will be supporting teammate Enric Mas at the Vuelta a España.

The Colombian fell victim to UAE Team Emirates' collective decision to go for the stage win with Pogachar on Saturday.

But as the 34-year-old veteran told Cycling News at the start of stage 9 in Avezzano, Pogachar's relative youth partly explains his and the team's ultra ambitious stance. Quintana also said that one strategy is not always the right one when it comes to victory contention and stage wins.

"There is a Colombian song that says, 'Yo tambien tuve quince años.'

"Each leader does what he wants to do, and that's perfectly fine.

Once, when he was winning the Grand Tours, Quintana said, "I'm not going to win a Grand Tour. I gave the other teams a chance to win. But I have no problem at all with the way he does it."

He said.

Quintana, who won the Giro d'Italia in 2014 and finished second overall in 2017, said he was nothing short of surprised that Pogachar was already in position to win the overall. He cautioned, however, that the GC contention was not over.

"There is certainly a big battle ahead," he said. But we knew from day one that he was the big favorite and that he would live up to the expectations that everyone had for him in this year's Giro.

Quintana had a rocky start to the Giro d'Italia this season, looking ahead to a tumultuous 2023.

The Giro d'Italia is his first Grand Tour after returning this season after a year-long race suspension following his positive test for tramadol in the 2022 Tour de France. At the time, Tramador was not suspended, but he parted company with Arkea Samsic and finally restarted with his former team, Movistar, in 2024.

However, Quintana contracted COVID-19 at the Tour Colombia, delaying the start of the European season. Also, in a crash at the Volta a Catalunya, Quintana dislocated his collarbone, putting his participation in the 2024 Giro in jeopardy.

However, he finally made it to the Giro and launched his first attack on stage 8, earlier than expected, with the later climbing days as his main target.

Perraillo Sanchez took the stage win on stage 6, "It was a good week with Einar (Rubio, 5:28, 8th overall) in the top 10. And the mountains should be in our favor come week three."

Quintana said he did not expect such a big move so soon, but "it was a break with all the teams participating. At first our team didn't participate, but then two of us decided to join and we wanted to make a run."

He added, "We were hoping to get away.

That move didn't work out, but the next step, he insisted, was to enter the climbing stages in week three. The Stelvio climb on stage 16 of the Giro was one he was particularly looking forward to, as it was where he set up the move that effectively won him the 2014 race.

"That's a good memory, and it could be one of the memories for me. But let's see what the leadership team says," he grinned. "