On Sunday afternoon, Nairo Quintana spoke to the press less than 24 hours before the start of the Tour of the Basque Country.

The Colombian had arrived in Bilbao after Saturday's GP Miguel Indurain where he was 35th, and after training and racing on the pave in preparation for the Tour de France.

"I felt good. We had sun for the two training riders and Harelbeke was also fine. Dwars door Vlaanderen was rainy and there was a lot of stress. I passed the pave with ease, always surrounded by the team and had no complications. The next days were difficult with the transfers and travelling which cost a bit of training, but yesterday I felt good. I hope it does not affect me and that I will be able to ride at my best level."

" It would be nice to repeat the win," said Quintana who wasalready victorious in 2013. "We bring an almost completely Basque team, I have also lived near this area and I like these roads whichhelps a lot. Every day it is up and down and you have to be attentive to any attack from the rivals. All stages are interesting, no day is easy."

Castroviejo, Intxausti, Anton, the Izaguirre brothers, José Herrada and Visconti will join Quintana in the Basque Country.

"Some of them have done many races with me and some of them are always sacrificing themselves for me but I think they should be selfish and try to grow a bit more, riders like Ion, Beñat. They can be leaders in many race.

Regarding rivals, Quintana points to "Kwiatkowski, Mollema, Garmin will be interesting like Sky, with Henao who is eager to come back. There is also Péraud and many other riders to consider. They are very good climbers who could give me a lot of trouble."