The pint-sized Colombian climber is set to race the Tour de San Luis in order to kick-start his season, and the Movistar rider believes that he is in decent form ahead of the Argentine race.
“I’m in good condition. We have been doing some good training since the end of the year. I’ve put in some good work in preparation to race the Tour de France. We did not go to Rio but I will think about it before the race. After we have done the Tour, if I leave it in good condition, the idea is to go to the Olympic Games.”
Quintana was speaking at the pre-race Tour de San Luis press conference. In the last few years he has used the race to fine tune his form and fitness. It helped set him on his way to second place in the Tour de France in 2015, when he finished second to Chris Froome (Team Sky).
Quintana’s entire season has not yet been finalised and much will depend on how he performs at the Tour in July. The Olympics are likely to feature in his plans, with the Rio road race course suited to a climber. He has not ruled out competing in the Vuelta a Espana either.
“Obviously I start my 2016 here to find some fitness and looking at this condition we will plan the preparation for the Vuelta a Catalunya, and País Vasco then I will return home for training and then come back to preview a stage of the Tour de France, and then perhaps the Olympic Games and the Vuelta a Espana.”
Those plans are a long way off and for now Quintana is fully focused on gaining the most out of his Tour de San Luis experience.
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“I have a very good record at this race. I have competed twice and the first time I won and on the second time I came third. It is a very nice test because it is summer in Argentina and the heat will be really good for our preparation.
“I feel like my condition is pretty similar to last year. For sure, some others come with a lot of preparation, like those teams from here, because it is their primary race, meanwhile for us is it the start of the season. We don’t have the racing to put up the fight but we take a good team with Adriano Malori who will give us a hand in the time trial."
