Nairo Quintana will be one of the major contenders at the Tour de France in July but before he goes up against Alberto Contador, Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali, he will prepare for La Grande Boucle by riding the Vuelta a Andalucía and Tirreno-Adriatico. The Colombian will also return to the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

The Movistar leader Nairo Quintana has confirmed the first part of his schedule: Tour de San Luis (January 19-25), Vuelta a Andalucía (February 18-22), Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17) and Vuelta al Pais Vasco (April 6-11). His intention is to do some of the Ardennes classics, Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, before he turns his full focus to the Tour de France. At the moment, the plan is to finalize the preparations at the Tour de Suisse. "It is a well-planned schedule that is focused on the Tour. This is the first part. The second half will be based on what is going to happen in France," Quintana told El Tiempo. On January 9, Quintana will be one of the main riders at the Movistar presentation.

Winner of the 2014 Giro d'Italia and runner-up in the 2013 Tour de France, the podium in Paris will be the main goal. "I don't know how many kilometres I will have done when I arrive in France. I have not done the calculations but I will have about 35 days of compeitition. This year I arrived at the Giro with fewer days (24 days, ed.)," he said.

Earlier this year Movistar announced that Quintana will also do the Vuelta a Espana but now his participation is uncertain. "We don't know if I will be there. We have already talked about it but a lot depends on what's going to happen in the Tour," said the Colombian who abandoned this year's edition of the Spanish race after two crashes.

Quintana will defend his 2014 victory in San Luis and will try to improve on his second place behind Contador in Tirreno, a race where Froome and Nibali are also expectd to be at the start. In Andalusia, Quintana will also be up against both Contador and Froome. Finally, he will return to Pais Vasco to try to repeat his win from 2013.