Quintana bypasses Tour de France

Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana has confirmed he will not race in the 2014 Tour de France, despite finishing second last year. The Movistar rider was one of the surprise packets of the 2013 Tour, winning both the mountains and young rider classifications, while finishing four minutes and 20 seconds behind champion Chris Froome of Team Sky. Quintana first hinted he might miss this year's Tour in December, before confirming on Thursday he will instead focus on the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. "(Alejandro) Valverde will be (Movistar's) leader in the Tour and for now, I will focus on the Giro and Vuelta," Quintana told Colombian newspaper El Tiempo. "I'll leave the Tour for later years." Quintana will start his 2014 season at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina on Sunday, which should provide more mountain-climbing training than the concurrent Tour Down Under in Australia. Mountain training will be critical for Quintana this year as the 23-year-old aims to win the pink jersey at the Giro, which is expected to be a climber's dream in 2014. "I'm still preparing for my big season goal, which is the Giro d'Italia," Quintana said. "With my team we have decided to ride it, before heading to the Vuelta a Espana."