Nairo Quintana has lashed out at people posing as cycling agents so they can entice young Colombian cyclists to Europe in a bid to enrich themselves, but often causing the riders great distress.
“They are opportunistic and mendacious people who are
fucking with Colombian cycling,” he said of those seeking to cash in on
Colombia’s cycling boom but who are ruining the hopes of young cyclists.
Quintana explained that because of the success of riders like Ivan Sosa, Egan Bernal, Sergio Higuita, Daniel Martínez and others, people posing as sports agents were coming to Colombia and preying on promising young cyclists.
Some, he said, were telling the young riders’ parents
that they were the agent who brought the already successful Colombian WorldTour
stars to Europe and promising to do the same for their child, who are often
still only 15 or 16 years old.
Advertisement
Related News
“The managers arrive (in Colombia) and say they want to take them to Europe at 15 or 16 years old, without hardly leaving school,” Quintana explained to the El Leñero podcast of what he believed were exploitative tactics.
“And they put them there in cellars in different countries, eating badly, living poorly, and suffering, leaving the children with many psychological problems and abandoning cycling and abandoning everything.
"You have 15 or 16 or 17-year-olds with five-year contracts. Why do they need five-year contracts? It would make more sense to give them contracts until they're adults and then reconsider."
He said those preying on young Colombians and their families were “cheating them to accidentally find a champion and fill their own pockets”.
Topics
