Nairo Quintana is targeting a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double in 2017, his Movistar team have confirmed.
Quintana’s Movistar team has detailed his schedule for the 2017 season, with a return to Italy’s three-week tour for the first time since 2014. He won his only previous start at the Giro when he then skipped the Tour de France in July.
The rider’s preparation for the 100th Giro d’Italia will start with the Challenge de Mallorca, followed by the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and the Abu Dhabi Tour. Quintana will then ride the Tirreno-Adriatico in March followed by a training stint in Colombia and the Vuelta a Asturias.
Quintana and Alejandro Valverde will each get one chance to shine, in addition to the Tour de France where the two will have to work together.
Valverde joins Quintana at the Challenge de Mallorca before riding the Vuelta a Murcia, the Clasica de Almeria, the Vuelta a Andalucia and Paris-Nice. The Spaniard is also set to ride the Ardennes classics.
Quintana’s commitment to the season’s first two grand tours could mean he won’t defend his Spanish Vuelta title in September.
