Even though the 2015 season is still yet to kick-off in Australia and Argentina, main grand tour contenders are already being buried under an avalanche of questions concerning their upcoming rivalry. One of the big four, Nairo Quintana, pointed out to Alberto Contador as his most dangerous opponent come July and acknowleged that even though the mountain-packed Tour de France route seems to be perfectly suited to his characteristics, there are some tricky obstacles on the way...

Quiet and calm as always while explaining his point of view, Quintana was reluctant to make any comparisons between his three biggest rivals in a battle for the 2015 Tour de France title: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Christopher Froome (Team Sky) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana). In the end, the 24-year old Colombian agreed that the former should be the most dangerous opponent.

“I’ve been in races with all of them,” Quintana reminded, according to Cyclingnews. “Sometimes I’ve won and sometimes they’ve won.”

“Froome said it’s Alberto, right? Well, I think Alberto will be my strongest rival as well,” he said. “But we’ll have to see how Nibali and Froome are too.”

Asked about the mountain-heavy route of the upcoming Tour de France edition, the Movistar rider admitted that it indeed suits his characteristics perfectly well, but also emphasized that since all four contenders are climbing decently it will all come down to consistency over the course of three weeks.

“It’s clear that I’m a climber and that’s my weapon but the others are strong climbers too,” he said. “In cycling today, riders have to be complete on all terrains to win a Grand Tour, so the deciding factor is how you manage your energy and the pressure over the course of the three weeks.”

All the same, the 24-year old Colombian is perfectly aware – probably having in mind dramatic happenings of the last year's edition of the French grand tour – that first ten days of competition will provide favourites with just as tricky obstacles as the toughest of mountain stages.

Having a cobbled stage on his mind and absolutely no experience with riding on this kind of surface, Quintana will debut in Flemish classics this spring – most likely in Dwars Door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke – just like his older team-mate Alejandro Valverde did last year.

“I’m looking into it and I’ll see which one suits me best, but in any case we’ll go there with part of the group that will form the Tour de France team,” Quintana said. “You have to respect them, but the cobbles are not something to be afraid of. The pavé is the same for everyone.”