After months of speculation and uncertainty, Movistar and Nairo Quintana have finally made a decision on his race schedule for the coming season. As has long been rumoured, the Colombian will target the Giro while Alejandro Valverde will be the team's leader for the Tour de France.

It can be a difficult decision for a grand tour rider to decide which of the three-week races to do but rarely has it taken longer to reach a decision that it has done for Nairo Quintana this year. Finally, his Movistar team has sent out a message to confirm that last year's runner-up in the Tour de France will skip the French grand tour to focus on the Giro d'Italia.

Shortly after stepping down from the Paris podium last year, Quintana stated his intention to return to the biggest race in the world. At the Giro route presentation, however, he said that he had always been fascinated by the Italian race and that he would love to do it in 2014.

Having seen the routes for both races, it was rumoured that Movistar manager Eusebio Unzue was in favour of sending the talented Colombian to Italy and let Alejandro Valverde again lead the team in the Tour. The duo would then combine forces for the Vuelta a Espana.

 It didn't take long for Valverde to confirm that he would do the Tour-Vuelta double and it was a common perception that Quintana was set for the Giro. However, the Colombian had to continually stress that a final decision had not been made and it kept his race schedule up in the air.

Upon arriving in Argentina for the first race of his season, the Tour de San Luis - which he ended up winning overall - Quintana said that he would do the Giro but he later had to backtrack on those statements, saying that the final decision would be taken by the sponsor. He admitted that the uncertainty was "driving him crazy".

Apparently, there has been a disagreement between Unzue who has always been in favour of sending Quintana to the Giro, and sponsor Telefonica who preferred to see their major star lining up at the world's biggest race. However, Unzue appears to have won the battle as today's announcement suggests.

Quintana will spend the month of February in Colombia, where his first child will be born in few days' time. After that, he will get back into racing in Spain with the Vuelta a Murcia and the Clásica de Almería, to later travel to Italy for Roma Maxima and Tirreno-Adriático. The Volta a Catalunya and the Vuelta a Asturias will be his last stops before the Giro.

“Personally, I don't think taking Nairo to the Tour with his age, plus the pressure of improving last year's result, is interesting for his future," Unzue said. "I prefer to keep him growing into the formation period he's still in and let him know the Giro because we think it's an extremely interesting race for him to progress on so many aspects, and where he will enjoy full leadership in a Grand Tour for the first time."

Instead, it will again be up to Valverde to defend the team in the Tour. Last year he was riding better than ever and it is hard to deny that he is likely to have ended on the podium had he not suffered a mechanical on the windy stage to St-Armand-Montrond.

"Naturally, Alejandro's presence into the squad also had its influence, having a solid leader for the Tour with him," Unzue said. "He has full backing from us - he's earned it. He already proved last year that he was perfectly capable reaching the final podium despite that mechanical."

Valverde also released his race schedule that will see him do very little racing with Quintana. Instead, the duo have divided the WorldTour races between and Valverde will even do two races on the cobbles in Belgium to prepare himself for the tricky Tour stage that includes a number of pavés.

Valverde will debut next week in the Dubai Tour –Movistar Team's first-ever Middle East appearance. Mallorca, Andalucía, Murcia, Almería, Strade Bianche, Roma Maxima, Milano-Sanremo, Dwars door Vlaanderen, E3 Prijs Harelbeke, GP Indurain, País Vasco and Amorebieta will be his preparation for the Ardennes trio while the Criterium du Dauphiné or the Tour de Suisse will build up his condition for the Tour.

At the end of the season, both riders are expected to ride the Vuelta.

"The Vuelta? Both have time to recover from their efforts, and it's a race that suits them both to perfection and which is also a priority for Movistar," Unzue said.

"I think this race schedule satisfies our sponsors, the race organisers and also offers chances in important races to other riders of our team who deserve to have them. Movistar Team is not just Nairo and Alejandro - our strength will keep residing there."

Movistar has had a mixed start to the season, winning two stages and the overall in San Luis but suffering from crashes and illness in a low-key performance in the Tour Down Under.