Nairo Quintana will try to win the red jersey in the Vuelta a Espana. The Movistar leader is confident in his chances but the Colombian believes that Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) will be the big favourite for this year's Spanish grand tour.

"The terrain in this year's race really suits Alberto, it's got good time trials for him. In a way, he's rested up after the Tour, too and he'll be extremely motivated, For me, he's the big favourite."

Contador pulled out of the Tour de France during the ninth stage due to a fever. He crashed in the first to stages and had lost time.

"I've been taking it fairly calmly after the Tour, at home and a little bit at altitude. I'm back now and will make a big objective out of the Vuelta. I've done a lot of races this season, the Tour was very tough. I'm in good shape, but we'll have to wait and see how I'm going to perform.

"We've got a good squad, good riders for the flatter stages and together with Alejandro (Valverde) we'll be strong in the mountains. I get on well with Alejandro and each one of us knows what we've got to do. But we won't settle on an overall strategy until we see what kind of condition our rivals are here in the Vuelta. Then we'll take it from there", he explained to Cyclingnews.

Quitana will try to finish on the top of the podium, but he knows that it will be difficult because of the long list of contenders.

"The goal is the podium, and winning the Vuelta would be great. The podium would be a good reward for all the work that has been done. And if nothing, I’d have the podium in the Tour and in the Vuelta in the same year."