Nairo Quintana has released his racing programme for the early stages of 2015, which includes a Tour de France taster as he faces fellow yellow jersey contenders Chris Froome (Sky) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) in the Ruta Del Sol.
The Colombian opens his season in Argentina for the Tour De San Luis from the 19th - 25th of January, followed by a promising race set in Andalusia for the Ruta Del Sol from the 18th - 22nd of February.
He will then proceed to race in the Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of the Basque Country in early March and April.
The reiging Giro d'Italia champion will also feature in the Tour De France in an effort to top general classification, where he will again be up against the likes of Froome and Contador.
"This is the first part of the season. The second part will be scheduled depending on what happens in France.” Quintana told the Spanish newspaper, El Tiempo.
“We don’t know if I’ll go [to the Vuelta]. We’ve already spoken about it but it depends on what happens at the Tour.”
Quintana's big breakthrough came from the Tour in 2013, where he finished an impressive second place behind Sky's Chris Froome, taking the white jersey of the best young rider in the process.
And the 24-year-old believes that he can go one better in 2015.
“We’ve seen that I can. I’ve been second in the Tour and I’ve won the Giro in the past two years. That means I can go for the podium,” he said. “I’ve been close to winning other races and that tells me that I can opt to fight for the title at the Tour.”
