While preparing himself to start his season in the Tour de San Luis later today, Nairo Quintana has spoken about his new status as one of major stars with Biciciclismo. The Tour de France runner-up admits that he is afraid of failing but feels that his surrounding will help him make sure that he is not going to disappoint the many expectations.

When he started the 2013 season, Nairo Quintana was a very talented rider on the Movistar team but not one of the leaders. The majority of the pressure was placed on Alejandro Valverde and the Colombian could ease almost unnoticed into the season.

After his outstanding ride at last year's Tour de France where he won a stage, finished 2nd overall and won both the mountains and the youth classifications, that is no longer possible. Quintana will start his season in the Tour de San Luis later today and has been the major draw for the Argentinean race.

When the official presentation was held, Quintana was the only rider to be asked any questions and the Colombian received a warm welcome from the Argentinean fans. Expectations for his performances are great and in an interview with Biciciclismo he admits that he status can be a bit overwhelming.

With the added attention also comes more pressure and Quintana knows that the risk of failure is big.

"Of course I fear it [failure]," he said. "I don't want to disappoint anyone, especially not my team. But as I go down the road, I don't think I will. There is progress to be made, I have already improved a lot and will continue to work hard to win races. I am no longer unnoticed and am one of the candidates. This means that I have to prepare myself better, make better strategies and improve a lot of things."

Quintana has been elevated to the status of national hero in his native Colombia and will only receive even more attention if he reaches his goal of one day winning the Tour de France.

"It's been a bit difficult but you have to get used to it," he said when asked about the attention from his compatriots. "Now it is already crazy but it will be twice as crazy [if I win the Tour] as there is much love and patriotism identified with me. I am proud to represent my country."

Quintana has long been expected to lead Movistar in the Giro d'Italia while Alejandro Valverde has already made it clear that he will go for the podium in the Tour. Last week different signals were sent when he first announced his intention to go the Italian race before revealing that a final decision by the team management was still not made.

"I really like the Tour," he said. "It is a spectacular race and in the future I will maybe concentrate fully on the Tour. The Giro has always caught my attention. I like its nature because the mountains are my preferred terrain and I want to do it. It has all kinds of climbs and is very demanding which is what I like. The Giro-Tour double is difficult. I will do one of them but not both. Maybe the Vuelta later in the year."

Quintana is confident that his reinforced team will be strong enough to challenge Chris Froome in the future.

"[We are not working specifically againt Sky] as we have nothing against them at all," he said. "The idea is to win the Tour, either this year or during the next two or three years. We know we have to improve and work hard and we need to make a great team. We have signed a German [Jasha Sütterlin] and [Adriano] Malori who are good on the flat and the Izagirre brothers, Gadret and Anton who are all important. This gives me confidence because if we have long-team objectives, we need to start our work now."

The birth of Quintana's daughter has put his race schedule a bit up in the air but he has a rough idea of what is going to happen after the race in San Luis.

"I will be at the team presentation [January 31] and then return to Colombia for the birth of my daughter," he said. "Then I have planned to do the Vuelta a Andalucia, the Volta a Cataliunya and the Tour de Romandie. I would have liked to do the Vuelta al Pais Vasco but it doesn't fit into our plans."

The Tour de San Luis starts later today with a flat stage and offers three mountainous days for Quintana to prove his talents.