Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) has said that he is not ruling out a repeat Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double bid in the future, despite his failure to win either Grand Tour this season.
Speaking at the end of a week-long team get-together for Movistar near their Pamplona headquarters, Quintana underlined during the interview with a small group of media that rather than racing both Grand Tours back to back, per se, he thought other factors had played their part in his failure to shine last July.
The 27-year-old Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España winner said he believed poorly structured training plans in the build-up to the Tour, as well as general fatigue from racing four Grand Tours in a little over 12 months, had taken a major toll on his performance last summer, which saw him finish second in the Giro d'Italia but then slump to 12th in the Tour de France.
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Quintana explained, too, that he will make the Tour de France the centre of his ambitions for 2018, without racing the Italian Grand Tour, but he is also looking ahead to 2019 and beyond, when doing the Giro and Tour double could once again feature.
"I see it as a challenge," he said, "not for next year, but for the years beyond. I believe I can do it [win both in the same season]."
Quintana also faced a series of questions about himself and future team-mate Mikel Landa, following the Basque's concerns, expressed last week, that he might not be welcomed by Quintana in Movistar. But Quintana insisted that there was no personality or power clash between himself and Movistar's new marquee signing.
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