Nairo Quintana will make his return to the peloton at the Mont Ventoux one-day race, his team have confirmed.
The Colombian climbing star looked dominant early in 2020 as he won two out of three French stage races before the UCI suspended all events.
Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) will now be restarting his season on August 6 at the Mont Ventoux Denivelé Challenges, a climber’s one-day race that has caught the attention of the fans.
The brutal race, which made its debut on the cycling calendar last year, takes the peloton to the summit of the iconic Mont Ventoux climb in the Provence region of France.
The 2020 edition is quickly gathering a star-studded line-up, with Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) also schedule to race the 182km race.
Last season, Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) and Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) went head to head on the slopes of Ventoux as the race landed in the cycling calendar with a bang.
But after Herrada took the victory by just nine seconds over the Frenchman, both riders will return for the 2020 edition, scheduled to run on Thursday, August 6.
The second edition of the race features as twist, as the peloton will ascend Mont Ventoux twice before the finish.
Riders will travel to the lower point of Chalet Reynard mid-way through the race, before heading to the classic summit after 182km of racing.
Starting from Vaison-la-Romaine, the racer heads over the Cols de Fontaube and Sault before the peloton hits the Bédoin ascent of Ventoux twice.
Quintana will be looking to pick up where he left off earlier this year, having already won five times in 2020.
His first victory came at the Tour de la Provence in February, where he claimed the Mont Ventoux/Chalet Reynard stage and took the overall.
He followed immediately with a stage victory and overall honours in the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var.
Quintana then took the final stage of Paris-Nice, the last race before the calendar was suspended.
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His 2020 schedule is now built around the Tour de France, as he is expected to head from Ventoux to the Tour de l’Ain, the Critérium du Dauphiné before the Tour stars in Nice on August 29.
