Quintana wins Tour of Catalonia ahead of Contador

Nairo Quintana of Colombia held on to his lead over Alberto Contador to win the Tour of Catalonia for the first time on Sunday.
Quintana successfully defended his seven-second advantage over the Spaniard in Sunday’s final stage, an eight-lap ride over 136.4 kilometers (84.7 miles) up and down the Montjuic hill overlooking Barcelona.
“It’s exciting and a point of great pride to beat such great rivals,” Quintana said. “It gives me confidence and shows that I’m on the right track going into the Tour of France. It doesn’t show that I’m ahead of anybody, but it shows that I’ve been doing a good job.”
The weeklong event in northeastern Spain attracted some of cycling’s top riders, including Tour de France champion Chris Froome, who finished eighth overall, 46 seconds behind Quintana.
Quintana’s task was made a bit more difficult because three of his Movistar teammates were ill and could not finish the race to help him. MDT/AP